Surveillance of Genetic Variations Associated with Antimalarial Resistance of Plasmodium falciparum Isolates from Returned Migrant Workers in Wuhan, Central China

Abstract

Antimalarial drug resistance developed in <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> has become a problem for malaria control. Evaluation of drug resistance is the first step for effective malaria control. In this study, we investigated the gene mutations of <i>P. falciparum</i> using blood samples from returned Chinese migrant workers in order to identify drug resistance-associated molecular markers. These workers returned from Africa and Southeast Asia (SEA) during 2011 to 2016. Polymorphisms in <i>pfcrt</i>, <i>pfmdr1</i>, and <i>k13-propeller</i> genes and the haplotype patterns of Pfcrt and Pfmdr1 were analyzed. The results showed the presence of four haplotypes of Pfcrt codons 72 to 76, including CVMNK (wild type), <u>S</u>VMN<u>T</u> and CV<u>IET</u> (mutation types), and CV M<b>/</b><u>I</u> N<b>/</b><u>E</u> K<b>/</b><u>T</u> (mixed type), with 50.57%, 1.14%, 25.00%, and 23.30% prevalence, respectively. For Pfmdr1, N86<u>Y</u> (22.28%) and Y184<u>F</u> (60.01%) were the main prevalent mutations (mutations are underlined). The prevalence of mutation at position 550, 561, 575, and 589 of K13-propeller were 1.09%, 0.54%, 0.54%, and 0.54%, respectively. These data suggested that Pfcrt, Pfmdr1, and K13-propeller polymorphisms are potential markers to assess drug resistance of <i>P. falciparum</i> in China, Africa, and SEA.