title: Rapid and specific drug quality testing assay for artemisinin and its derivatives using a luminescent reaction and novel microfluidic technology.
abstract: Globally, it is estimated that about 10-30% of pharmaceuticals are of poor quality. Poor-quality drugs lead to long-term drug resistance, create morbidity, and strain the financial structure of the health system. The current technologies for substandard drug detection either are too expensive for low-resource regions or only provide qualitative results. To address the current limitations with point-of-care technologies, we have developed an affordable and robust assay to quantify the amount of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to test product quality. Our novel assay consists of two parts: detection reagent (probe) and a microfluidic testing platform. As antimalarials are of high importance in the global fight against malaria and are often substandard, they are chosen as the model to validate our assay. As a proof-of-concept, we have tested the assay with artesunate pure and substandard samples (Arsuamoon tablets) from Africa and compared with the conventional 96-well plate with spectrophotometer to demonstrate the quantitative efficacy and performance of our system.
authors.forename: Nga T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Darash
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.forename: Muhammad H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Zaman
mesh_terms: D000962:Antimalarials / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000592:standards; D037621:Artemisinins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000592:standards; D058110:Counterfeit Drugs / Q000737:chemistry*; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D011786:Quality Control; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013607:Tablets; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D037621:Artemisinins; D058110:Counterfeit Drugs; D013607:Tablets; C031327:artemisinin