Plasmodium falciparum founder populations in western Cambodia have reduced artemisinin sensitivity in vitro.
Amaratunga C., Witkowski B., Dek D., Try V., Khim N., Miotto O., Ménard D., Fairhurst RM.
Reduced Plasmodium falciparum sensitivity to short-course artemisinin (ART) monotherapy manifests as a long parasite clearance half-life. We recently defined three parasite founder populations with long half-lives in Pursat, western Cambodia, where reduced ART sensitivity is prevalent. Using the ring-stage survival assay, we show that these founder populations have reduced ART sensitivity in vitro at the early ring stage of parasite development and that a genetically admixed population contains subsets of parasites with normal or reduced ART sensitivity.