Differential prevalence of transporter polymorphisms in symptomatic and asymptomatic Falciparum Malaria Infections in Uganda

Abstract

We explored associations between Plasmodium falciparum drug resistance–mediating polymorphisms and clinical presentations in parasitemic children enrolled in a cross-sectional survey in Tororo, Uganda, using a retrospective case-control design. All 243 febrile children (cases) and 243 randomly selected asymptomatic children (controls) were included. In a multivariate analysis adjusting for age, complexity of infection, and parasite density, the prevalence of wild-type genotypes was significantly higher in febrile children compared to asymptomatic children ( pfcrt K76T: odds ratio [OR] 4.41 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.28–15.1]; pfmdr1 N86Y: OR 4.08 [95% CI, 2.01–8.31], and pfmdr1 D1246Y: OR 4.90 [95% CI, 1.52–15.8]), suggesting greater virulence for wild-type parasites.