The Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter is associated with the ex vivo P. falciparum African parasite response to pyronaridine.

Background: The pyronaridine-artesunate combination is one of the most recent oral artemisinin-based therapeutic combinations (ACTs) recommended for the treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria. The emergence of P. falciparum resistance to artemisinin has recently developed in Southeast Asia. Little data are available on the association between pyronaridine susceptibility and polymorphisms in genes involved in antimalarial drug resistance. The objective of the present study was to investigate the association between ex vivo responses to pyronaridine and the K76T mutation in the pfcrt gene in P. falciparum isolates.

Methods: The assessment of ex vivo susceptibility to pyronaridine was performed on 296 P. falciparum isolates using a standard 42-h 3H-hypoxanthine uptake inhibition method. The K76T mutation was also investigated.

Results: The pyronaridine IC50 (inhibitory concentration 50 %) ranged from 0.55 to 80.0 nM. Ex vivo responses to pyronaridine were significantly associated with the K76T mutation (p-value = 0.020). The reduced susceptibility to pyronaridine, defined as IC50 > 60 nM, was significantly associated with the K76T mutation (p-value = 0.004). Using a Bayesian mixture modelling approach, the pyronaridine IC50 were classified into three components: component A (IC50 median 15.9 nM), component B (IC50 median 34.2 nM) and component C (IC50 median 63.3 nM). The K76T mutation was represented in 46.3% of the isolates in component A, 47.2% of the isolates in component B and 73.3% of the isolates in component C (p-value = 0.021).

Conclusion: These results showed the ex vivo reduced susceptibility to pyronaridine, i.e., IC50 > 60 nM, associated with the K76T mutation.