Publication: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of monthly versus bimonthly dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine chemoprevention in adults at high risk of malaria
Issued Date
2012-03-01
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ISSN
10986596
00664804
00664804
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2-s2.0-84863115620
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Mahidol University
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SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Vol.56, No.3 (2012), 1571-1577
Suggested Citation
Khin Maung Lwin, Aung Pyae Phyo, Joel Tarning, Warunee Hanpithakpong, Elizabeth A. Ashley, Sue J. Lee, Phaikyeong Cheah, Pratap Singhasivanon, Nicholas J. White, Niklas Lindegårdh, François Nosten Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of monthly versus bimonthly dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine chemoprevention in adults at high risk of malaria. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Vol.56, No.3 (2012), 1571-1577. doi:10.1128/AAC.05877-11 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/14938
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Title
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of monthly versus bimonthly dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine chemoprevention in adults at high risk of malaria
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Abstract
Intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) is increasingly used to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality in children and pregnant women. The efficacy of IPT depends on the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of the antimalarial drugs used. Healthy adult male volunteers whose occupation put them at high risk of malaria on the Northwest border of Thailand were randomized to receive a 3-day-treatment dose of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine monthly (DPm) or every 2 months (DPalt) or an identical placebo with or without fat (6.4g/dose) over a 9-month period. All volunteers were monitored weekly. One thousand adults were recruited. Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine was well tolerated. There were 114 episodes of malaria (49 Plasmodium falciparum, 63 P. vivax, and 2 P. ovale). The protective efficacy against all malaria at 36 weeks was 98% (95% confidence interval [CI], 96% to 99%) in the DPm group and 86% (95% CI, 81% to 90%) in the DPalt group (for both, P < 0.0001 compared to the placebo group). As a result, the placebo group also had lower hematocrits during the study (P < 0.0001). Trough plasma piperaquine concentrations were the main determinant of efficacy; no malaria occurred in participants with a trough concentration above 31 ng/ml. Neither plasma piperaquine concentration nor efficacy was influenced by the coadministration of fat. DPm is safe to use and is effective in the prevention of malaria in adult males living in an area where P. vivax and multidrug-resistant P. falciparum malaria are endemic. Copyright © 2012, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.