Therapeutic efficacy of artemisinin combination therapies and prevalence of S769N mutation in PfATPase6 gene of Plasmodium falciparum in Kolkata, India

ObjectiveTo study the in vivo efficacy of these two ACTs in the treatment ofPlasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum malaria) in Kolkata and to determine the prevalence of mutant S769N codon of thePfATPase6 gene among field isolates ofP. falciparum collected from the study area.MethodsA total of 207P. falciparum positive cases were enrolled randomly in two study arms and followed up for 42 days as per WHO (2009) protocol. A portion ofPfATPase6 gene spanning codon S769N was amplified and sequenced by direct sequencing method.ResultsIt was observed that the efficacy of both the ACT regimens were highly effective in the study area and no mutant S769N was detected from any isolate.ConclusionsThe used, combination AS+SP is effective and the other combination AM+LF might be an alternative, if needed.