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A high number of pfmdr1 gene copies in P. falciparum from Venezuela

Parasitology Research volume 118, pages 3085–3089 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Multidrug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum has been associated with gene amplification of pfmdr1. We studied the corresponding gene amplification in P. falciparum from blood samples of malaria patients in the Sifontes Municipality, Bolívar State, Venezuela, known as the highest region of incidence of malaria. Fifty-five P. falciparum DNA samples were extracted from different hosts and used for qPCR assessment of the copy number of pfmdr1. The assay detected four copies of the multidrug-resistant line P. falciparum Dd2 in comparison with the P. falciparum 3D7 that had only one copy. In the patients’ samples, the copy number of pfmdr1 was a single copy in 80% and 20% left distributed in different copy numbers up to seven.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all the patients who participated in the study; to the staff of the Field Research Center “Dr. Francesco Vitanza”, Tumeremo, Bolívar State, Venezuela, who provided technical assistance to the authors on collecting samples; to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the USA that, through Dr. Eric Halsey, donated us the reference strains; and to Dr. Irene Bosch from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology USA for English language editing and checking. This work was supported by Fondo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, Venezuela (grant 2008000911-1).

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Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas (BIOMED), Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Carabobo, Núcleo Aragua, Maracay, 2101, Venezuela

    César Pacheco & Flor Herrera

  2. Centro de Investigaciones de Campo “Dr. Francesco Vitanza”, Servicio Autónomo Instituto de Altos Estudios “Dr. Arnoldo Gabaldon”, MPPS, Tumeremo, Bolívar, Venezuela

    Jorge Moreno

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  1. César Pacheco
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  2. Jorge Moreno
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  3. Flor Herrera
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Correspondence to Flor Herrera.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Bioethics Committee of the Biomedical Research Institute of the University of Carabobo (protocol number CBIIB-UC/2016-3). The patients enrolled in the study were all adult and signed written informed consent.

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Pacheco, C., Moreno, J. & Herrera, F. A high number of pfmdr1 gene copies in P. falciparum from Venezuela. Parasitol Res 118, 3085–3089 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06409-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-019-06409-4

Keywords

  • Malaria
  • P. falciparum
  • pfmdr1 gene
  • Venezuela