Background Treatment and control of malaria depends on artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) and is challenged by drug resistance, but thus far resistance to artemisinins and partner drugs has primarily occurred in southeast Asia. The aim of this study was to characterise antimalarial drug susceptibility of Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Tororo and Busia districts in Uganda.Methods In this prospective longitudinal study, P falciparum isolates were collected from patients aged 6 months or older presenting at the Tororo District Hospital (Tororo district, a site with relatively low malaria incidence) or Masafu General Hospital (Busia district, a high-incidence site) in eastern Uganda with clinical symptoms of malaria, a positive Giemsa-stained blood film for P falciparum, and no signs of severe disease. Ex-vivo susceptibilities to ten antimalarial drugs were measured using a 72-h microplate growth inhibition assay with SYBR Green detection. Relevant P falciparum genetic polymorphisms were characterised by molecular methods. We compared results with those from earlier studies in this region and searched for associations between drug susceptibility and parasite genotypes.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.