Abstract

Emmanuel Osei Tutu*, John Larbi, Bernard Lawson, Charles Brown and Edmund Browne

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.