Poster Presentation First Malaria World Congress 2018

Effect of pharmacogenetics on plasma lumefantrine pharmacokinetics and malaria treatment outcome in pregnant women (#353)

Ritah F Mutagonda 1 , Appolinary A. R. Kamuhabwa 1 , Omary OMS Minzi 1 , Muhammad Asghar 2 , Manijeh V Vafa Homann 2 , Anna Farnert 2 , Eleni Aklillu 3
  1. Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar-Es-Salaam, Ilala, Tanzania
  2. Unit of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, , Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
  3. Department of Laboratory of Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden

Background: Pregnancy has considerable effects on the pharmacokinetic properties of drugs used to treat uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria.  The role of pharmacogenetic variation on antimalarial drug disposition and efficacy during pregnancy is not well investigated. The study aimed to examine the effect of pharmacogenetics on lumefantrine (LF) pharmacokinetics and treatment outcome in pregnant women.

Methods: 92 pregnant women with uncomplicated falciparum malaria were enrolled and treated with artemether-lumefantrine (ALu) at Mkuranga and Kisarawe district hospitals in Coast Region of Tanzania. Day-7 LF plasma concentration and genotyping for CYP2B6 (c.516G>T, c.983T>C), CYP3A4*1B, CYP3A5 (*3, *6, *7) and ABCB1 c.4036A4G were determined. Blood smear for parasite quantification by microscopy, and dried blood spot for parasite screening and genotyping using qPCR and nested PCR were collected at enrolment up to day 28 to differentiate between reinfection from recrudescence. Treatment response was recorded following the WHO protocol.

Results: P. falciparum was detected during the follow up period in 11 (12%) women between day 7 and day 28 after treatment and PCR genotyping confirmed recrudescent infection in 7 (63.3%) women. The remaining four (36.4%) pregnant women had reinfection: one on day 14 and three on day 28. The overall PCR-corrected treatment failure rate was 9.0%. Significant associations between CYP3A5 genotype and day 7 plasma LF concentrations was found, being higher in carriers of CYP3A5 defective variant alleles than CYP3A5*1/*1 genotype. No significant influence of CYP2B6, CYP3A5 and ABCB1 c.4036A>G genotypes on malaria treatment outcome were observed. However, CYP3A4*1B did affect malaria treatment outcome in pregnant women, in which women with CYP3A4*1A/*1A had higher risk of recrudescence than those with CYP3A4*1B/*1B or CYP3A4*1/*1B.

Conclusion: Genetic variations in CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 may influence LF pharmacokinetics and treatment outcome in pregnant women. Dosage adjustment maybe of importance to pregnant women receiving artemether-lumefantrine for treatment of uncomplicated malaria.