A high number of pfmdr1 gene copies in P. falciparum from Venezuela

Multidrug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum has been associated with gene amplification of pfmdr1. We studied the corresponding gene amplification in P. falciparum from blood samples of malaria patients in the Sifontes Municipality, Bolívar State, Venezuela, known as the highest region of incidence of malaria. Fifty-five P. falciparum DNA samples were extracted from different hosts and used for qPCR assessment of the copy number of pfmdr1. The assay detected four copies of the multidrug-resistant line P. falciparum Dd2 in comparison with the P. falciparum 3D7 that had only one copy. In the patients’ samples, the copy number of pfmdr1 was a single copy in 80% and 20% left distributed in different copy numbers up to seven.