Measuring the Plasmodium falciparum HRP2 protein in blood from artesunate-treated malaria patients predicts post-artesunate delayed hemolysis.

Abstract

Artesunate, the recommended drug for severe malaria, rapidly clears the malaria parasite from infected patients but frequently induces anemia-called post-artesunate delayed hemolysis (PADH)-for which a simple predictive test is urgently needed. The underlying event in PADH is the expulsion of artesunate-exposed parasites from their host erythrocytes by pitting. We show that the histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2) of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum persists in the circulation of artesunate-treated malaria patients in Bangladesh and in French travelers who became infected with malaria in Africa. HRP2 persisted in whole blood (not plasma) of artesunate-treated patients with malaria at higher levels compared to quinine-treated patients. Using an optimized membrane permeabilization method, HRP2 was observed by immunofluorescence, Western blotting, and electron microscopy to persist in once-infected red blood cells from artesunate-treated malaria patients. HRP2 was deposited at the membrane of once-infected red blood cells in a pattern similar to that for ring erythrocyte surface antigen (RESA), a parasite invasion marker. On the basis of these observations, we developed a semiquantitative titration method using a widely available HRP2-based rapid diagnostic dipstick test. Positivity on this test using a 1:500 dilution of whole blood from artesunate-treated patients with malaria collected shortly after parasite clearance predicted subsequent PADH with 89% sensitivity and 73% specificity. These results suggest that adapting an existing HRP2-based rapid diagnostic dipstick test may enable prediction of PADH several days before it occurs in artesunate-treated patients with malaria.

• Authors: Papa Alioune Ndour, Sébastien Larréché, Oussama Mouri, Nicolas Argy, Frédérick Gay, Camille Roussel, Stéphane Jauréguiberry, Claire Perillaud, Dominique Langui, Sylvestre Biligui, Nathalie Chartrel, Audrey Mérens, Eric Kendjo, Aniruddha Ghose, Md Mahtab Uddin Hassan, Md Amir Hossain, Hugh W F Kingston, Katherine Plewes, Arjen M Dondorp, Martin Danis, Sandrine Houzé, Serge Bonnefoy, Marc Thellier, Charles J Woodrow, Pierre A Buffet, French Artesunate Working Group
• Journal: Science translational medicine (Sci Transl Med) Vol. 9 Issue 397 (07 05 2017) ISSN: 1946-6242 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 28679662 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Chemical References

• Antigens, Protozoan
• Artemisinins
• HRP-2 antigen, Plasmodium falciparum
• Protozoan Proteins
• Artesunate
• Quinine

Topics

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Aged
• Antigens, Protozoan (blood)
• Artemisinins (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Artesunate
• Cytosol (metabolism)
• Demography
• Erythrocyte Membrane (drug effects, metabolism)
• Erythrocytes (drug effects, parasitology, ultrastructure)
• Female
• Hemolysis
• Humans
• Malaria (blood, drug therapy, parasitology)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Plasmodium falciparum (drug effects, metabolism, pathogenicity)
• Protozoan Proteins (blood)
• Quinine (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Young Adult