Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40380136›Full record

SynthesisMalaria journal2025

Efficacy of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in people living with HIV (PLHIV) diagnosed with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Africa: a WWARN systematic review.

Abena Takyi, Aboubakar Soma, Marianna Przybylska, Eli Harriss, Karen I Barnes, Prabin Dahal, Philippe J Guérin, Kasia Stepniewska, Verena I Carrara

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Malaria journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
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

9 authors.

Abena TakyiDepartment of Child Health, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana.
Aboubakar SomaCentre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Marianna PrzybylskaRoyal Infirmary Edinburgh, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh, UK.
Eli HarrissBodleian Health Care Libraries, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Karen I BarnesInfectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO), Oxford, UK.
Prabin DahalCentre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Philippe J GuérinCentre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Kasia Stepniewska *Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Verena I Carrara *Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. verena.carrara@unige.ch.

Funding

Gates Foundation INV-004713
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAfrica bears the highest double burden of HIV and malaria worldwide. In 2023, an estimated 25.9 million people were living with HIV (PLHIV), and 246 million malaria cases were diagnosed in Africa. Malaria patients co-infected with HIV are considered at a higher risk of failing malaria treatment, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. This systematic literature review aims to assess the treatment outcomes following artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in PLHIV.

methodsThe literature search was conducted up to April 2022 in the following databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Central, WHO Global Index Medicus, Clinicaltrials.gov, and the WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN) Clinical Trial Library. Studies describing any malaria treatment outcomes or anti-malarial drug exposure in PLHIV treated for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria infection were eligible for inclusion.

resultsA total of 26 articles describing 19 studies conducted between 2003 and 2017 in six countries were included in this review; it represented 2850 malaria episodes in PLHIV across various transmission settings. The most studied artemisinin-based combination was artemether-lumefantrine (in 16 studies). PLHIV were treated with various antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens, namely efavirenz (EFV), nevirapine (NVP), atazanavir-ritonavir (ATVr), lopinavir-ritonavir (LPV/r), and/or on prophylaxis with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TS), or were untreated (in 3 studies). There was no evidence of an increased risk of recrudescence in PLHIV compared to those without HIV. When treated with artemether-lumefantrine, PLHIV receiving LPV/r had a lower risk of malaria recurrence compared to PLHIV on NVP-based or EFV-based ART, or those without HIV. LPV/r increased lumefantrine exposure and EFV-treated patients had a reduced exposure to both artemether and lumefantrine; NVP reduced artemether exposure only.

conclusionsLimited data on ACT outcomes or drug exposure in PLHIV in Africa remains a reality to date, and the effect of antivirals appears inconsistent in the literature. Considering the heterogeneity in study designs, these review's findings support conducting an individual patient data meta-analysis to explore the impact of antiretroviral therapy on anti-malarial treatment.

trial registrationThe protocol for the original search was published on PROSPERO with registration number CRD42018089860.

Indexed as

AntimalarialsArtemisininsHIV InfectionsMalaria, FalciparumAfricaDrug CombinationsDrug Therapy, CombinationHumansPlasmodium falciparumTreatment OutcomeAntimalarialsartemisininArtemisininsDrug CombinationsAnti-retroviral drugsArtemisinin-based combination therapyDrug-drug interactionsHuman immunodeficiency virusMalariaPeople living with HIV

Identifiers

PMID40380136
PMCPMC12083008

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.