Genetic polymorphism of merozoite surface protein 2 and prevalence of K76T pfcrt mutation in Plasmodium falciparum field isolates from Congolese children with asymptomatic infections

Malaria Journal

Research

Mathieu Ndounga¹  Vladimir Malonga²  Pembe Issamou Mayengue³  Christevy Jeannhey Vouvoungui³  Felix Koukouikila-Koussounda⁴  Francine Ntoumi⁴ 

[1] Centre de Recherche sur les Ressources Végétales, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo;Unité de Recherche sur le Paludisme, Hôpital de Base de Makélékélé, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo;Congolese Foundation for Medical Research, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo;Congolese Foundation for Medical Research, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo;Faculty of Health Sciences, Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo;Congolese Foundation for Medical Research, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo;Faculty of Health Sciences, Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo;Institute for Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany;

关键词: Plasmodium falciparum;    Asymptomatic infection;    Multiplicity of infection;    msp2;    pfcrt;    Brazzaville;    Republic of Congo;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-11-105

 received in 2012-01-10, accepted in 2012-04-01,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIn order to prepare the field site for future interventions, the prevalence of asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infection was evaluated in a cohort of children living in Brazzaville. Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein 2 gene (msp 2) was used to characterize the genetic diversity and the multiplicity of infection. The prevalence of mutant P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (pfcrt) allele in isolates was also determined.MethodsBetween April and June 2010, 313 children below 10 years of age enrolled in the cohort for malaria surveillance were screened for P. falciparum infection using microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The children were selected on the basis of being asymptomatic. Plasmodium falciparum msp2 gene was genotyped by allele-specific nested PCR and the pfcrt K76T mutation was detected using nested PCR followed by restriction endonuclease digestion.ResultsThe prevalence of asymptomatic P. falciparum infections was 8.6% and 16% by microscopy and by PCR respectively. Allele typing of the msp2 gene detected 55% and 45% of 3D7 and FC27 allelic families respectively. The overall multiplicity of infections (MOI) was 1.3. A positive correlation between parasite density and multiplicity of infection was found. The prevalence of the mutant pfcrt allele (T76) in the isolates was 92%.ConclusionThis is the first molecular characterization of P. falciparum field isolates in Congolese children, four years after changing the malaria treatment policy from chloroquine (CQ) to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT). The low prevalence of asymptomatic infections and MOI is discussed in the light of similar studies conducted in Central Africa.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Koukouikila-Koussounda et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.