title: Falciparum malaria molecular drug resistance in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malaria cases were estimated to 207 million in 2013. One of the problems of malaria control is the emergence and spread of Plasmodium falciparum strains that become resistant to almost all drugs available. Monitoring drug resistance is essential for early detection and subsequent prevention of the spread of drug resistance by timely changes of treatment policy. This review was performed to gather all data available on P. falciparum molecular resistance in DR Congo, as baseline for future assessments.
  
  
  METHODS
  The search for this review was undertaken using the electronic databases PubMed and Google Scholar using the terms "malaria", "Congo", "resistance", "molecular", "antimalarial", "efficacy". Articles were classified based on year of collecting, year of publication, sample size and characteristics, molecular markers analysed and polymorphisms detected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirteen articles were included and five genes have been analysed in these studies: pfcrt, pfdhps, pfdhfr, pfmdr1 and K13-propeller. The majority of studies included were not representative of the whole country.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This systematic review demonstrates the lack of molecular resistance studies in DRC. Only 13 studies were identified in almost 15 years. The MOH must implement a national surveillance system for monitoring malaria drug resistance and this surveillance should be conducted frequently and country-representative.
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Unit, Department of Basic Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, DR Congo. didimvumbi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Dieudonné Makaba
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Mvumbi
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, DR Congo. dr12jmkayembe@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Jean-Marie
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kayembe
authors.affiliation: Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, School of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, DR Congo. hsitua@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hippolyte
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Situakibanza
authors.affiliation: Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, School of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, DR Congo. tbobanga@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Thierry L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Bobanga
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric, School of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, DR Congo. celnsibu@hotmail.fr.
authors.forename: Célestin N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Nsibu
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Unit, Department of Basic Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, DR Congo. mvumbilelo@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Georges L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Mvumbi
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium. pierrette.melin@chu.ulg.ac.be.
authors.forename: Pierrette
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Melin
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium. P.DeMol@ulg.ac.be.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Mol
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium. mphayette@chu.ulg.ac.be.
authors.forename: Marie-Pierre
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Hayette
mesh_terms: D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo; D004351:Drug Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000469:parasitology*; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics*