Research Article
Status of the Multidrug Resistance-1 Gene of Plasmodium
falciparum in Four Malaria Epidemiological Strata, Two
Decades after the Abolition of Chloroquine as First-Line
Treatment for Uncomplicated Malaria in Cameroon
David Denis Sofeu-Feugaing ,
1
Fabrice Nkengeh Ajonglefac ,
1
Marcel Nyuylam Moyeh ,
1
Tobias Obejum Apinjoh ,
2
Marianne Elodie Essende,
1
Gilchrist Destin Talla Kouam,
1
and Stephen Mbigha Ghogomu
1
1
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon
2
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Bamenda, Bamenda, Cameroon
Correspondence should be ddressed to Dvid Denis Sofeu•Feuging; dsofeu@yhoo.com
Received 27 April 2023; Revised 20 June 2023; Accepted 21 June 2023; Published 1 July 2023
Acdemic Editor: Jinbing Mu
Copyright © 2023 Dvid Denis Sofeu•Feuging et l. Tis is n open ccess rticle distributed under the Cretive Commons
AttributionLicense,whichpermitsunrestricteduse,distribution,ndreproductioninnymedium,providedtheoriginlworkis
properly cited.
Drug•resistnt mlri prsites pose thret to globl mlri control eforts, nd it is importnt to know the extent of these
drug•resistnt muttions in ech region to determine pproprite control mesures. Chloroquine (CQ) ws widely used in
Cmeroon for decdes, but its declining clinicl efccy due to resistnce prompted helth uthorities in 2004 to resort to
rtemisinin•bsedcombintiontherpy(ACT)sthefrst•linetretment foruncomplictedmlri.Despitenumerousefortsto
control mlri, it persists, nd the emergence nd spred of resistnce to ACTs mke the development of new drugs or the
possible reintroduction of discontinued drugs incresingly urgent. Mlri•positive blood smples were collected from 798
ptientsonWhtmnflterppertodeterminethesttusofresistncetoCQ.DNAwsextrctedbyboilinginChelexndnlysis
of Plasmodium species.Fourhundred P.falciparum monoinfectedsmples,100perstudyre,weremplifedbynestedPCR,nd
llele•specifc restriction nlysis of Pfmdr1 gene moleculr mrkers ws performed. Frgments were nlyzed using 3%
ethidium bromide•stined grose gel. P. falciparum ws the most bundnt Plasmodium species, ccounting for 87.21% of
P.falciparum monoinfectionsonly.Noinfectionwith P.vivax wsdetected.Temjorityofsmplescontinedthewildtypeforll
3SNPsevlutedonthePfmdr1genewithN86,Y184,ndD1246ccountingfor45.50%,40.00%,nd70.00%,respectively.Te
mostbundnthplotypeobservedwstheY184D1246doublewildtypet43.70%.Teresultssuggesttht P. falciparum isthe
mjor infecting species nd tht P. falciparum species with the susceptible genotype re grdully recpturing the prsite
popultion.
1.Introduction
Mlri remins widespred public helth thret in sub•
Shrn Afric, which ccounts for 95% of globl mlri
morbidity nd mortlity [1]. Infnts, children under 5,
pregnnt women, HIV•positive ptients, nd unimmunized
migrntsfromnonmlriouscommunitiesremostfected
[2, 3]. In 2022, there were 247 million estimted mlri
cses nd 619,000 mlri•relted deths worldwide [4]. In
Cmeroon, there were lmost 6.67 million cses nd over
14,000 deths [4]. Unfortuntely, there is no mlri•free
zoneinCmeroon,ndlmost20millionpeopleliveinres
with high mlri trnsmission, 41% of whom re expected
to hve t lest one episode per yer [5]. Chemotherpy is
currentlyoneoftheminstysofmlricontrol.However,
the constnt emergence of resistnt strins of mlri pr•
sites poses thret to globl mlri control eforts.
Chloroquine (CQ) ws the drug of choice for the tretment
Hindawi
Journal of Tropical Medicine
Volume 2023, Article ID 6688380, 9 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/6688380