Prevalence and Implications of Plasmodium Falciparum Multidrug Resistance Gene Mutations (pfmdr1) Among Pediatric Patients with Malaria in Kano, Nigeria

Study’s Excerpt: • fmdr1 gene mutations were assessed in falciparum from pediatric malaria patients in Kano. • Only 3.2% of amplified samples showed the pfmdr1 N86Y mutation linked to drug resistance. • A significant association was found between pfmdr1 mutation and patient age groups (P = 0.0043). • No significant correlation was found between pfmdr1 mutation and sex of patients (P = 0.4237). • Findings suggest emerging ACT resistance in falciparum strains circulating in Kano, Nigeria. Full Abstract: A genetic indicator of the parasites' vulnerability to anti-malarial medications is the Plasmodium falciparum multidrug resistance gene 1 (pfmdr1). In this study, malaria patients aged 0–14 who were treated at Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital in Kano, Nigeria, were evaluated for multidrug-resistant resistance gene 1 (MDR1) mutations. After confirming the malaria parasite density in 100 children's samples, the samples were genotyped using BigDye (v3.1) terminator cycle sequencing to look for two SNPs in pfmdr1 on samples with high and moderate parasite densities. Fisher's exact (FE) tests and Pearson Chi-square were used to evaluate the data. Of the 100 samples, 57% of the patients had low (+) malaria parasite densities, 28% had moderate (++) densities, and 15% had high (+++) densities. Only seven samples were successfully amplified for the pfmdr1 gene located at codon 1246, whereas 31 were successfully amplified and processed for the pfmdr1 gene located at codon 86 with an amplicon size of 534 bp. A pfmdr1-N86Y mutation was found in one sample (3.2%). Additionally, the results indicated no correlation (P = 0.4237) between sex and the pfmdr1 SNP mutation. Nonetheless, there was a significant correlation (P = 0.0043) between the pfmdr1 mutation and the age groups. According to the current study, Kano state in northern Nigeria may have strains of P. falciparum that are less sensitive to the artemisinin component of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT). The Plasmodium falciparum parasites' development of this resistance gene puts malaria chemotherapy at serious risk because the parasite will be immune to the widely prescribed anti-malarial medications.