Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33706773›Full record

ArticleMalaria journal2021

Assessment of Plasmodium falciparum anti-malarial drug resistance markers in pfk13-propeller, pfcrt and pfmdr1 genes in isolates from treatment failure patients in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2018-2019.

Doudou M Yobi, Nadine K Kayiba, Dieudonné M Mvumbi, Raphael Boreux, Pius Z Kabututu, Hippolyte N T Situakibanza, Solange E Umesumbu, Patrick De Mol, Niko Speybroeck, Georges L Mvumbi and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Malaria journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
2.9field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Mapping Antimalarial Drug Resistance in Mozambique: A Systematic Review ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2024
    Pooled it
  4. Article
  5. A review on molecular markers ofJournal of parasitic diseases : official organ of the Indian Society for Parasitology · 2025
    Review
  6. Emergence of chloroquine-sensitiveEmerging microbes & infections · 2025
    Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Doudou M YobiDepartment of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. doudou.yobi@unikin.ac.cd.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8703-1269
Nadine K KayibaSchool of Public Health and Research Institute of Health and Society, Catholic University of Louvain, 1200, Brussels, Belgium.
Dieudonné M MvumbiDepartment of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Raphael BoreuxLaboratory of Clinical Microbiology, University of Liège, 4000, Liège, Belgium.
Pius Z KabututuDepartment of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Hippolyte N T SituakibanzaDepartment of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Solange E UmesumbuNational Malaria Control Programme, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Patrick De MolLaboratory of Clinical Microbiology, University of Liège, 4000, Liège, Belgium.
Niko SpeybroeckSchool of Public Health and Research Institute of Health and Society, Catholic University of Louvain, 1200, Brussels, Belgium.
Georges L MvumbiDepartment of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Marie-Pierre HayetteLaboratory of Clinical Microbiology, University of Liège, 4000, Liège, Belgium.
University of Kinshasa · CDUniversity of Liège · BEUCLouvain · BEUniversity of Mbuji Mayi · CD

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe national policy for malaria treatment of the Democratic Republic of Congo recommends two first-line artemisinin-based combinations for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria: artesunate-amodiaquine and artemether-lumefantrine. This study investigated the presence of markers associated with resistance to the current first-line artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in isolates of Plasmodium falciparum from treatment failure patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

methodsFrom November 2018 to November 2019, dried blood spots were taken from patients returning to health centres for fever within 28 days after an initial malaria treatment in six sentinel sites of the National Malaria Control Programme across Democratic Republic of Congo. The new episode of malaria was first detected by a rapid diagnostic test and then confirmed by a real-time PCR assay to define treatment failure. Fragments of interest in pfk13 and pfcrt genes were amplified by conventional PCR before sequencing and the Pfmdr1 gene copy number was determined by a TaqMan real-time PCR assay.

resultsOut of 474 enrolled patients, 364 (76.8%) were confirmed positive by PCR for a new episode of P. falciparum malaria, thus considered as treatment failure. Of the 325 P. falciparum isolates obtained from 364 P. falciparum-positive patients and successfully sequenced in the pfk13-propeller gene, 7 (2.2%) isolates carried non-synonymous mutations, among which 3 have been previously reported (N498I, N554K and A557S) and 4 had not yet been reported (F506L, E507V, D516E and G538S). Of the 335 isolates successfully sequenced in the pfcrt gene, 139 (41.5%) harboured the K76T mutation known to be associated with chloroquine resistance. The SVMNT haplotype associated with resistance to amodiaquine was not found. None of the isolates carried an increased copy number of the pfmdr1 gene among the 322 P. falciparum isolates successfully analysed.

conclusionNo molecular markers currently known to be associated with resistance to the first-line ACT in use were detected in isolates of P. falciparum from treatment failure patients. Regular monitoring through in vivo drug efficacy and molecular studies must continue to ensure the effectiveness of malaria treatment in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedAmodiaquineAntimalarialsArtemether, Lumefantrine Drug CombinationArtemisininsATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family C ProteinsChildChild, PreschoolDemocratic Republic of the CongoDrug CombinationsDrug ResistanceFemaleGenetic MarkersHumansAmodiaquineamodiaquine, artesunate drug combinationAntimalarialsArtemether, Lumefantrine Drug CombinationArtemisininsATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family C ProteinsDrug CombinationsGenetic MarkersMdr1 protein, Plasmodium falciparumMembrane Transport ProteinsPfCRT protein, Plasmodium falciparumProtozoan ProteinsAnti-malarialDemocratic Republic of CongoFailureMarkersMolecularResistanceTreatment

Identifiers

PMID33706773
PMCPMC7953712
OpenAlexW3133538880

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.