Molecular Markers of Plasmodium falciparum Drug Resistance in Parasitemic Pregnant Women in the Middle Forest Belt of Ghana

Abstract

Data on prevalence of antimalarial molecular resistance markers in pregnant women in Ghana is scarce. Prevalence of single nucleotide polymorphisms/haplotypes in the <i>Pfcrt</i>, <i>Pfmdr1</i>, <i>Pfdhfr</i>, and <i>Pfdhps</i> genes was assessed in a cross-sectional study involving 200 pregnant women. Almost 90% of infections were wild type at the <i>Pfcrt</i> gene whereas the <i>Pfmdr1</i> NFD mutant haplotype occurred in 43% of samples. Prevalence of <i>Pfdhfr/Pfdhps</i> quadruple mutation was 92.6% whereas <i>Pfdfr/Pfdhps</i> quintuple mutation with K540E was not observed. The study provides important updates of antimalarial resistance markers in Ghanaian pregnant women and suggests increased tolerance to one of the first-line treatment options in Ghana: artemether-lumefantrine. The data support the view that sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine is still efficacious for intermittent preventive treatment in Ghana, but the impact of increased doses on selection of mutations needs to be assessed. Continuing the surveillance of resistance markers is important to inform changes in antimalarial drug policy in pregnancy.