Prevalence of Mutations in the , and Genes of Malarial Parasites Isolated from Symptomatic Patients in Dogondoutchi, Niger.

The effectiveness of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) depends not only on that of artemisinin but also on that of partner molecules. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of mutations in the , and genes from isolates collected during a clinical study. genomic DNA samples extracted from symptomatic malaria patients from Dogondoutchi, Niger, were sequenced by the Sanger method to determine mutations in the (codons 51, 59, 108, and 164), (codons 436, 437, 540, 581, and 613), and (codons 86, 184, 1034, and 1246) genes. One hundred fifty-five (155) pre-treatment samples were sequenced for the and genes. A high prevalence of mutations in the gene was observed at the level of the N51I (84.97%), C59R (92.62%), and S108N (97.39%) codons. The key K540E mutation in the gene was not observed. Only one isolate was found to harbor a mutation at codon I431V. The most common mutation on the gene was Y184F in 71.43% of the mutations found, followed by N86Y in 10.20%. The triple-mutant haplotype N51I/C59R/S108N (IRN) was detected in 97% of the samples. Single-mutant (ICS and NCN) and double-mutant (IRS, NRN, and ICN) haplotypes were prevalent at 97% and 95%, respectively. Double-mutant haplotypes of the (581 and 613) and (86 and 184) were found in 3% and 25.45% of the isolates studied, respectively. The study focused on the molecular analysis of the sequencing of the , and genes. Although a high prevalence of mutations in the gene have been observed, there is a lack of sulfadoxine pyrimethamine resistance. There is a high prevalence of mutation in the codon associated with resistance to amodiaquine. These data will be used by Niger's National Malaria Control Program to better monitor the resistance of to partner molecules in artemisinin-based combination therapies.