Sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine impairs Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte infectivity and Anopheles mosquito survival

A Kone, M Van de Vegte-Bolmer… - International journal for …, 2010 - Elsevier
Sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine (SP) is currently the drug of choice for intermittent preventive
treatment of Plasmodiumfalciparum both in pregnancy and infancy. A prolonged parasite
clearance time conferred by dhfr and dhps mutations is believed to be responsible for
increased gametocyte prevalence in SP treated individuals. However, using a direct feeding
assay in Mali, we showed that gametocytes present in peripheral venous blood post-SP
treatment had reduced infectivity for Anophelesgambiae sensu stricto (ss) mosquitoes. We …