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Plasmodium falciparum Malaria: Rosettes are Disrupted by Quinine, Artemisinin, Mefloquine, Primaquine, Pyrimethamine, Chloroquine and Proguanil
JP Dean Goldring; Thanugarani Padayachee & Imraan Ismail
Abstract
An assay was developed measuring the disruption of rosettes between
Plasmodium falciparuminfected (trophozoites) and uninfected erythrocytes by the
antimalarial drugs quinine, artemisinin mefloquine, primaquine, pyrimethamine, chloroquine
and proguanil. At 4 hr incubation rosettes were disrupted by all the drugs in a dose dependent
manner. Artemisinin and quinine were the most effective anti-malarials at disrupting rosettes
at their therapeutic concentrations with South African RSA 14, 15, 17 and The Gambian
FCR-3 P. falciparum strains. The least effective drugs were proguanil and
chloroquine. A combination of artemisinin and mefloquine was more effective than each
drug alone. The combinations of pyrimethamine or primaquine, with quinine disrupted more
rosettes than quinine alone. Quinine may be an effective drug in the treatment of severe
malaria because the drug efficiently reduces the number of rosettes.
Keywords
malaria - Plasmodium falciparum - rosette disruption - antimalarial drugs
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