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Researchers have identified the first known case of artemisinin-resistant malaria originating in Africa, according to a letter published in NEJM.
Resistant Plasmodium falciparum parasites were detected in a Chinese man who had travelled from Equatorial Guinea to China.
The finding means Africa has joined Southeast Asia in hosting parasites that are partially resistant to the first-line antimalaria drug, artemisinin.
Researchers were able to confirm that the parasites in the current case carried a new mutation in the Kelch13 (K13) gene, the main driver for artemisinin resistance in Asia.
Then, the team set out to determine whether the parasite originated from Africa or Southeast Asia.
“We used whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatics tools we had previously developed—like detectives trying to link the culprit parasite to the crime scene,” explained Arnab Pain, PhD, of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
Sequencing and analysis of P falciparum DNA unveiled its origin by disclosing the single nucleotide polymorphisms that vary according to the geographical source of the strain.
The researchers used the nuclear DNA, as well as the one present in 2 organelles of the parasite—the mitochondrium and the apicoplast.
Both methods independently validated the origin of the parasite as West African, confirming the first case of artemisinin resistance mediated by a K13 gene mutation on the African continent.
“The spread of artemisinin resistance in Africa would be a major setback in the fight against malaria, as ACT [artemisinin-based combination therapy] is the only effective and widely used antimalarial treatment at the moment,” Dr Pain said. “Therefore, it is very important to regularly monitor artemisinin resistance worldwide.” 
Researchers have identified the first known case of artemisinin-resistant malaria originating in Africa, according to a letter published in NEJM.
Resistant Plasmodium falciparum parasites were detected in a Chinese man who had travelled from Equatorial Guinea to China.
The finding means Africa has joined Southeast Asia in hosting parasites that are partially resistant to the first-line antimalaria drug, artemisinin.
Researchers were able to confirm that the parasites in the current case carried a new mutation in the Kelch13 (K13) gene, the main driver for artemisinin resistance in Asia.
Then, the team set out to determine whether the parasite originated from Africa or Southeast Asia.
“We used whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatics tools we had previously developed—like detectives trying to link the culprit parasite to the crime scene,” explained Arnab Pain, PhD, of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
Sequencing and analysis of P falciparum DNA unveiled its origin by disclosing the single nucleotide polymorphisms that vary according to the geographical source of the strain.
The researchers used the nuclear DNA, as well as the one present in 2 organelles of the parasite—the mitochondrium and the apicoplast.
Both methods independently validated the origin of the parasite as West African, confirming the first case of artemisinin resistance mediated by a K13 gene mutation on the African continent.
“The spread of artemisinin resistance in Africa would be a major setback in the fight against malaria, as ACT [artemisinin-based combination therapy] is the only effective and widely used antimalarial treatment at the moment,” Dr Pain said. “Therefore, it is very important to regularly monitor artemisinin resistance worldwide.”
Researchers have identified the first known case of artemisinin-resistant malaria originating in Africa, according to a letter published in NEJM.
Resistant Plasmodium falciparum parasites were detected in a Chinese man who had travelled from Equatorial Guinea to China.
The finding means Africa has joined Southeast Asia in hosting parasites that are partially resistant to the first-line antimalaria drug, artemisinin.
Researchers were able to confirm that the parasites in the current case carried a new mutation in the Kelch13 (K13) gene, the main driver for artemisinin resistance in Asia.
Then, the team set out to determine whether the parasite originated from Africa or Southeast Asia.
“We used whole-genome sequencing and bioinformatics tools we had previously developed—like detectives trying to link the culprit parasite to the crime scene,” explained Arnab Pain, PhD, of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
Sequencing and analysis of P falciparum DNA unveiled its origin by disclosing the single nucleotide polymorphisms that vary according to the geographical source of the strain.
The researchers used the nuclear DNA, as well as the one present in 2 organelles of the parasite—the mitochondrium and the apicoplast.
Both methods independently validated the origin of the parasite as West African, confirming the first case of artemisinin resistance mediated by a K13 gene mutation on the African continent.
“The spread of artemisinin resistance in Africa would be a major setback in the fight against malaria, as ACT [artemisinin-based combination therapy] is the only effective and widely used antimalarial treatment at the moment,” Dr Pain said. “Therefore, it is very important to regularly monitor artemisinin resistance worldwide.”