ISSN 2756-3391
African Journal of Parasitology Research ISSN 2343-6549 Vol. 6 (7), pp. 001-007, July, 2019. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum in pregnant women in an IPTp setting in the Offinso District of Ghana
Emmanuel Osei Tutu1, 3*, John Larbi1, Bernard Lawson1, Charles Brown2 and Edmund Browne3
1Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
2Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
3Department of Community Health, School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Accepted 23 March, 2019
Abstract
Plasmodium falciparum, the most virulent and deadly of all the malaria species is known to be genetically diverse. This cross–sectional study assessed the genetic diversity of P. falciparum parasites in pregnant women in the Offinso District. Blood samples of pregnant women, irrespective of their intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) status, were examined for parasitaemia and species identified, from October 2005 to June 2007. Blood blot filter mats were prepared from each participant’s blood sample and used for parasite DNA extraction and PCR analysis. DNA extraction was carried out for 126 samples using the Tris-EDTA buffer-based method. Nested PCR reactions were performed for each of the three polymorphic markers msp1, msp2 and glurp. PCR amplifications were successful in 22, 43 and 56% of samples for msp1, msp2 and glurp, respectively. The msp1 (11 alleles) and msp2 (16 alleles) revealed considerably greater parasite diversity than glurp (5 alleles) . Msp2 allelic families were more diverse in comparison with msp1 and glurp . The diversity of parasites threatens the effectiveness of using sulphadoxine – pyrimethamine (SP) in IPTp, hence, the need for continuous monitoring to promptly capture any development of resistance to SP.
Key words: Malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, genetic diversity, pregnant woman, intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp).