Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42706285›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Multiple local PfDHFR I164L haplotype expansions drive Plasmodium falciparum antifolate resistance in Uganda.

Victor Asua, Karamoko Niaré, Shreeya Garg, Jenny Legac, Stephen Tukwasibwe, Thomas Katairo, Francis E Bohissou, Rebecca M Crudale, Alfred Simkin, Jerry Mulondo and 9 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

19 authors.

Victor AsuaInstitute for Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. victorasua@yahoo.co.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0489-4692
Karamoko NiaréDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Shreeya GargUniversity of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Jenny LegacUniversity of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Stephen TukwasibweInfectious Diseases Research Collaboration, Kampala, Uganda.
Thomas KatairoInfectious Diseases Research Collaboration, Kampala, Uganda.
Francis E BohissouInstitute for Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Rebecca M CrudaleDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Alfred SimkinDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
Jerry MulondoInfectious Diseases Research Collaboration, Kampala, Uganda.
Sam L NsobyaInfectious Diseases Research Collaboration, Kampala, Uganda.
Isaac SsewanyanaInfectious Diseases Research Collaboration, Kampala, Uganda.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8605-2001
Grant DorseyUniversity of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Jeffrey A BaileyDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6899-8204
Moses R KamyaInfectious Diseases Research Collaboration, Kampala, Uganda.
Adoke YekaInfectious Diseases Research Collaboration, Kampala, Uganda.
Philip J RosenthalUniversity of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Steffen BorrmannInstitute for Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Melissa D ConradUniversity of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9984-8030

Funding

Transmission ProjectU19AI089674 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI MATTHEW G DORSEY, MOSES Robert KAMYA · 2010 to 2026
$29.3M
Resistance of Malaria Parasites to Artemisinin-Based TherapiesR01AI075045 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI ROSENTHAL, PHILIP JON · 2009 to 2024
$8.4M
Surveillance to track and characterize antimalarial resistance trends in Ugandan Plasmodium falciparum parasites (STARTUP)R01AI173557 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI Melissa D Conrad · 2023 to 2026
$2.9M
Resistance of Malaria Parasites to Artemisinin-Based Combination TherapiesR56AI075045 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI ROSENTHAL, PHILIP JON · 2008 to 2008
$618k
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) INV-037316Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation INV-037316Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Division of Intramural Research of the NIAID) AI075045, AI173557, AI089674European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) RIA2018SD-2306 - PAMAfricaNIAID NIH HHS R01 AI075045NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI173557NIAID NIH HHS R56 AI075045NIAID NIH HHS U19 AI089674
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Mutations in the Plasmodium falciparum genes, pfdhfr and pfdhps, drive antifolate resistance and threaten malaria control in regions where sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is the primary chemoprevention strategy. The spatial patterns and evolutionary dynamics of these mutations in high-transmission settings remain incompletely understood. Here we genotyped 11 resistance-associated mutations in pfdhfr and pfdhps in 4,725 P. falciparum isolates collected from 16 Ugandan health facilities as part of annual surveillance between 2016 and 2022. Notably, we show that the frequency of PfDHFR I164L, which confers higher pyrimethamine resistance, increased over time from 19.4% to 32.4%. Using identity-by-descent, haplotype structure, and extended haplotype homozygosity analyses, we show that PfDHFR I164L is present on multiple haplotype backgrounds and undergoes localised expansions, without detectable signatures of recent positive selection at all but one site. Our results suggest that the evolution of antifolate resistance, driven by PfDHFR I164L, is spatially heterogeneous and complex in regions that primarily use SP chemoprevention programmes.

Indexed as

Drug ResistanceFolic Acid AntagonistsMalaria, FalciparumPlasmodium falciparumProtozoan ProteinsTetrahydrofolate DehydrogenaseAntimalarialsDrug CombinationsHaplotypesHumansMutationPyrimethamineSulfadoxineUgandaAntimalarialsDHFR protein, Plasmodium falciparumDrug Combinationsfanasil, pyrimethamine drug combinationFolic Acid AntagonistsProtozoan ProteinsPyrimethamineSulfadoxineTetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase

Identifiers

PMID42706285
PMCPMC13550557

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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.