Distribution of Pfmdr 1 and Kelch 13 Genes among the Children 5 Years and Below Attending a Secondary Health Facility in Akure, South-West, Nigeria.

Abstract Background: Malaria parasite resistant has been a major barrier to effective treatment of malaria. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the distribution of P. falciparum resistant kelch protein gene on chromosome 13 (Kelch 13) and multidrug resistant (Pfmdr1) mutant genes among children aged five years and below who attended Mother and Child Hospital, Akure, Nigeria. Methods: Thin and thick smears were prepared from the blood collected aseptically through venepuncture from five hundred (500) children. Structured questionnaires were used to obtain demographic data from the respondents. Two hundred malaria positive samples were randomly selected from the 500 samples for PCR analysis to detect Pfmdr1 and Kelch 13 mutant genes. Results: The results showed that of the 500 respondents, 288 (57.6%) were males while 212 (42.4%) were females. Pfmdr1distribution include: mixed group (mutant/wild) 38.5%, mutant gene 35.5%, wild gene 20.5% and the resistant genes were absent in 5.5% of the infected children. The mixed group of Pfmdr1 gene was higher among infants (51.9%), children with birth order 4 (60.0%) and children that have blood group B (51.3%), however, there is no significant difference in the distribution of Pfmdr1 between gender (χ2 = 0.634, df = 1, p>0.05). There was a point mutation in the codon position 557 where the amino acid Alanine was replaced by Serine in the PfK13.Conclusions: The presence of Pfmdr1 mutant genes and point mutation in the PfK13 gene of P. falciparum among children, calls for development of innovative drugs targeted on these resistant strains.