Split dosing of artemisinins does not improve antimalarial therapeutic efficacy

It has been suggested recently, based on pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modelling exercises, that twice daily dosing of artemisinins increases malaria parasite killing and so could "dramatically enhance and restore drug effectiveness" in artemisinin resistant P. falciparum malaria infecti...

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Main Authors: White, N, Watson, J, Ashley, E
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2017
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author White, N
Watson, J
Ashley, E
author_facet White, N
Watson, J
Ashley, E
author_sort White, N
collection OXFORD
description It has been suggested recently, based on pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modelling exercises, that twice daily dosing of artemisinins increases malaria parasite killing and so could "dramatically enhance and restore drug effectiveness" in artemisinin resistant P. falciparum malaria infections. It was recommended that split dosing should be incorporated into all artemisinin combination regimen designs. To explain why parasite clearance rates were not faster with split dose regimens it was concluded that splenic malaria parasite clearance capacity was readily exceeded, resulting in the accumulation of dead parasites in the circulation, that parasite clearance was therefore an unreliable measure of drug efficacy, and instead that human immunity is the primary determinant of clearance rates. To test these various hypotheses we performed a logistic meta-regression analysis of cure rates from all falciparum malaria treatment trials (n = 40) with monotherapy arms containing artemisinin or a derivative (76 arms). There was no evidence that split dosing enhanced cure rates.
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spelling oxford-uuid:7ac5b4ff-fd19-4fd2-a664-c3c96045397f2022-03-26T20:46:12ZSplit dosing of artemisinins does not improve antimalarial therapeutic efficacyJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:7ac5b4ff-fd19-4fd2-a664-c3c96045397fEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordNature Publishing Group2017White, NWatson, JAshley, EIt has been suggested recently, based on pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modelling exercises, that twice daily dosing of artemisinins increases malaria parasite killing and so could "dramatically enhance and restore drug effectiveness" in artemisinin resistant P. falciparum malaria infections. It was recommended that split dosing should be incorporated into all artemisinin combination regimen designs. To explain why parasite clearance rates were not faster with split dose regimens it was concluded that splenic malaria parasite clearance capacity was readily exceeded, resulting in the accumulation of dead parasites in the circulation, that parasite clearance was therefore an unreliable measure of drug efficacy, and instead that human immunity is the primary determinant of clearance rates. To test these various hypotheses we performed a logistic meta-regression analysis of cure rates from all falciparum malaria treatment trials (n = 40) with monotherapy arms containing artemisinin or a derivative (76 arms). There was no evidence that split dosing enhanced cure rates.
spellingShingle White, N
Watson, J
Ashley, E
Split dosing of artemisinins does not improve antimalarial therapeutic efficacy
title Split dosing of artemisinins does not improve antimalarial therapeutic efficacy
title_full Split dosing of artemisinins does not improve antimalarial therapeutic efficacy
title_fullStr Split dosing of artemisinins does not improve antimalarial therapeutic efficacy
title_full_unstemmed Split dosing of artemisinins does not improve antimalarial therapeutic efficacy
title_short Split dosing of artemisinins does not improve antimalarial therapeutic efficacy
title_sort split dosing of artemisinins does not improve antimalarial therapeutic efficacy
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