Methaemoglobinaemia and the radical curative efficacy of
8-aminoquinoline antimalarials
Nicholas J White1,2, James A
Watson1,2, J Kevin Baird2,3
- Mahidol Oxford Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol
University, Bangkok, Thailand .
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of
Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
- Eijkman-Oxford Clinical Research Unit, Eijkman Institute for Molecular
Biology, Jakarta, Indonesia
• WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT
The 8-aminoquinoline antimalarials are the only drugs which can prevent
relapses of P. vivax and P. ovale malaria (radical cure)
but no pharmacodynamic correlates of this activity have been identified.
The 8-aminoquinolines cause dose dependent methaemoglobinaemia, and they
cause haemolysis in patients with G6PD deficiency.
• WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS
Review of data accrued over the past 70 years indicates that
methaemoglobinaemia is correlated with radical curative activity.
Methaemoglobinaemia could be used to optimize 8-aminoquinoline
antimalarial dose regimens.