Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Mar 3;80(3):828-839.
doi: 10.1093/jac/dkaf006.

Monitoring molecular markers associated with antimalarial drug resistance in south-east Senegal from 2021 to 2023

Alioune Wade  1   2 , Seynabou D Sene  1   2 , Emanuelle Caspar  3 , Fatoumata Diallo  1   2 , Lucien Platon  3 , Lucas Thiebaut  3 , Mariama N Pouye  1   2 , Aboubacar Ba  1   2 , Laty Gaye Thiam  1   2 , Magal Fall  1   2 , Bacary Djilocalisse Sadio  4 , Ife Desamours  5 , Noemi Guerra  5 , Kelly Hagadorn  5 , Alfred Amambua-Ngwa  6 , Amy K Bei  1   2   5 , Ines Vigan-Womas  2   7 , Didier Ménard  3   8   9   10 , Alassane Mbengue  1   2   11
Affiliations

Monitoring molecular markers associated with antimalarial drug resistance in south-east Senegal from 2021 to 2023

Alioune Wade et al. J Antimicrob Chemother. .

Abstract

Background: Since 2006, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have been introduced in Senegal in response to chloroquine resistance (CQ-R) and have shown high efficacy against Plasmodium falciparum. However, the detection of the PfKelch13R515K mutation in Kaolack, which confers artemisinin resistance in vitro, highlights the urgency of strengthening antimalarial drug surveillance to achieve malaria elimination by 2030.

Objective: To assess the proportion of P. falciparum parasites carrying molecular signatures associated with antimalarial resistance (PfKelch13, Pfmdr1, Pfcrt, dhfr and dhps) in isolates collected at Kédougou using multiplex amplicon deep sequencing.

Methods: Venous blood samples were collected from patients diagnosed with P. falciparum infection over a 3-year period (2021, 2022 and 2023). Parasite DNA was extracted, and multiplex amplicon sequencing was used to investigate gene polymorphisms.

Results: Analysis of PfKelch13 did not reveal any non-synonymous mutations. Pfcrt mutations were present in 45% of the samples, mainly K76T (44%) and I356T (36%). The dominant Pfmdr-1 allele was Y184F (62%). The sextuple mutant 51I/59R/108N + 436A/437G/613S dhfr/dhps was observed in 10% of the samples.

Conclusion: The absence of PfKelch13 mutants suggests that ACT efficacy remains uncompromised, although clinical outcome studies are required to confirm this. Analysis of Pfcrt and Pfmdr-1 shows that CQ-R alleles, probably from previous CQ use, are slowly decreasing. Likewise, the detection of the dhfr/dhps sextuple mutant highlights the need to monitor sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine resistance and the emergence of 581G. There is therefore a need for continued antimalarial resistance surveillance in Senegal.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. World Health Organization. World Malaria Report 2024: Addressing Inequity in the Global Malaria Response. World Health Organization, 2024. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
    1. Ariey F, Witkowski B, Amaratunga C et al. A molecular marker of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Nature 2014; 505: 50–5. 10.1038/nature12876 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dondorp AM, Nosten F, Yi P et al. Artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum malaria. N Engl J Med 2009; 361: 455–67. 10.1056/NEJMoa0808859 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Menard D, Khim N, Beghain J et al. A worldwide map of Plasmodium falciparum K13-propeller polymorphisms. N Engl J Med 2016; 374: 2453–64. 10.1056/NEJMoa1513137 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Noedl H, Se Y, Schaecher K et al. Evidence of artemisinin-resistant malaria in western Cambodia. N Engl J Med 2008; 359: 2619–20. 10.1056/NEJMc0805011 - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources