Absence of Association between Methylene Blue Reduced Susceptibility and Polymorphisms in 12 Genes Involved in Antimalarial Drug Resistance in African .

Half the human population is exposed to malaria. antimalarial drug resistance monitoring and development of new drugs are major issues related to the control of malaria. Methylene blue (MB), the oldest synthetic antimalarial, is again a promising drug after the break of its use as an antimalarial drug for more than 80 years and a potential partner for triple combination.

Prevalence of mutations in the Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter, PfCRT, and association with ex vivo susceptibility to common anti-malarial drugs against African Plasmodium falciparum isolates.

Background: The Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine transporter gene (pfcrt) is known to be involved in chloroquine and amodiaquine resistance, and more particularly the mutations on the loci 72 to 76 localized within the second exon. Additionally, new mutations (T93S, H97Y, C101F, F145I, M343L, C350R and G353V) were recently shown to be associated with in vitro reduced susceptibility to piperaquine in Asian or South American P. falciparum strains.

Modulation of in vitro antimalarial responses by polymorphisms in Plasmodium falciparum ABC transporters (pfmdr1 and pfmdr5).

The emergence of resistance to artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT) was described in Southeast Asia. In this context, the identification of molecular markers of ACT resistance partner drugs is urgently needed for monitoring the emergence and spread of resistance. Polymorphisms in transporter genes, especially of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily, have been involved in anti-malarial drug resistance.

The D113N mutation in the RING E3 ubiquitin protein ligase gene is not associated with ex vivo susceptibility to common anti-malarial drugs in African Plasmodium falciparum isolates.

Background: Plasmodium falciparum resistance to artemisinin-based combination therapy has emerged and spread in Southeast Asia. In areas where artemisinin resistance is emerging, the efficacy of combination is now based on partner drugs. In this context, the identification of novel markers of resistance is essential to monitor the emergence and spread of resistance to these partner drugs.

Bacterial contamination of water samples in Gabon, 2013.

Contamination of water is a major burden in the public health setting of developing countries. We therefore assessed the quality of water samples in Gabon in 2013. The main findings were a contamination rate with coliforms of 13.