Artemisinin Resistance and the Unique Selection Pressure of a Short-acting Antimalarial

David S Khoury; Pengxing Cao; Sophie G Zaloumis; Miles P Davenport; Interdisciplinary Approaches to Malaria Consortium

doi:10.1016/j.pt.2020.07.004

Artemisinin Resistance and the Unique Selection Pressure of a Short-acting Antimalarial

Trends Parasitol. 2020 Nov;36(11):884-887. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2020.07.004. Epub 2020 Aug 5.

Authors

David S Khoury¹, Pengxing Cao², Sophie G Zaloumis³, Miles P Davenport⁴; Interdisciplinary Approaches to Malaria Consortium

Affiliations

¹ Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: dkhoury@kirby.unsw.edu.au.
² School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
³ Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
⁴ Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: m.davenport@unsw.edu.au.

PMID: 32771284
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2020.07.004

Abstract

Resistance to the artemisinin derivatives, our most effective antimalarial drugs, has not manifest as a classical resistance phenotype in which parasites can tolerate higher drug concentrations. Instead, resistant parasites have an altered maturation. We hypothesize that the short half-life of artemisinin concentrations is an unanticipated driver of this novel resistance phenotype.

Keywords: artemisinin; drug resistance; malaria; selection pressure.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Antimalarials / pharmacology
Antimalarials / therapeutic use
Artemisinins / pharmacology*
Artemisinins / therapeutic use
Drug Resistance*
Humans
Inhibitory Concentration 50
Plasmodium / drug effects*
Selection, Genetic / drug effects*

Substances

Antimalarials
Artemisinins