Comparative Studies on Effects of Dihydroartemisinin and Quinine on Plasmodium Falciparum Gametocytes at Early Stage

Objective To study the effects of dihydroartemisinin and quinine on plasmodium falciparum gametocytes at early stage. Methods Eleven patients with falciparum malaria who had plasmodium falciparum gametocytes at early stage(PFGe) in bone marrow but no matured plasmodium falciparum gametocytes(PFGm) in bone marrow and peripheral blood were allocated to two groups.Group A(n=6) were administered orally with dihydroartemisinin at a total dosage of 480mg for 7 days and Group B(n=5) with quinine sulfate at a total dosage of 10?500 mg for 7 days.The number of gametocytes in bone marrow and peripheral blood was examined at regular time. Results PFGe in bone marrow disappeared in Group A on 10 th day after the first administration while existed in all the cases of Group B on 10 th day and still in 2 cases on 14 th day.The clearance time for peripheral PFGe was 4.8±0.9 days in Group A and 22.0±5.8 days in Group B. Conclusion Dihydroartemisinin can clear PFGe but quinine shows no this action.