The diversity of Plasmodium genotypes characterizes the dynamics of malaria transmission and is thought to be one of the factors hampering malaria control efforts The aim of the present study was to explore the influence of Plasmodium falciparum genetic polymorphism on antimalarial drug resistance molecular markers in two endemic settings in Burkina Faso.
Blood blots from malaria-positive samples were processed with molecular tools for Plasmodium falciparum genetic polymorphism alleles detection and markers associated with antimalarial drug resistance. The chi² analysis and ANOVA were used to compare allelic frequencies, mean multiplicity of infection (mMOI) and prevalence of mutant pfcrt, pfmdr, dhfr/dhps genes.
Out of the 285 samples positive for Plasmodium falciparum, 279 were successfully genotyped for markers associated with antimalarial drug resistance and genetic polymorphism. Significant positive correlations were found between mean multiplicity of infection (mMOI) and pfcrt76, dhfr51 and dhps437 mutant prevalence. No significant variation was found between msp1/ msp2 alleles and the prevalence of pfcrt, pfmdr, dhfr, and dhps mutants. Monoclonal msp1 infections harbored high prevalence mutation in pfcrt76, dhfr51 and dhps437 genes.
Overall, this study showed a negligible correlation between genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum and antimalarial mutant genes. Competition between different strains (polyclonality) of the parasite within the host would be to the disadvantage of mutant strains.