[Drug resistance of malarial parasites and the methods for its determination]

The problem of drug resistance of Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of tropical malaria and its role in the general system of malaria control are discussed. The aspects of distribution of drug resistant strains of P. falciparum and the main principles of determination of the malaria causative agent sensitivity to antimalaria drugs are presented. The determination implies the use of various procedures for performing the tests under clinical conditions in vivo and various modifications of the in vitro tests, as well as estimation of their results. The use of a 48-hour in vitro test provided the revealing of certain advantages of dabequine, a new drug made in the USSR in comparison to chloroquine with respect to drug resistant strains of P. falciparum from the southern areas of Vietnam. The advantages and disadvantages or limitations of every procedure in comparison to the others are indicated and it is shown that the in vivo and in vitro tests are supplementing each other. The known procedures provide the results not earlier than in 24-48 hours which required developing of a rapid procedure. Brief characteristics of a rapid biochemical procedure are presented. This procedure was developed at the E. I. Martsinovsky Institute of Medical Parasitology and Tropical Medicine on an experimental model of P. berghei, the causative agent of rodent malaria. It provides the results in 4-5 hours.