Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine is an artemisinin-based combination treatment (ACT) recommended by theWHOfor uncomplicated\nPlasmodium falciparum malaria, and it is being used increasingly for resistant vivax malaria where combination with\nprimaquine is required for radical cure. TheWHOrecently reinforced its recommendations to add a single dose of primaquine\nto ACTs to reduce P. falciparum transmission in low-transmission settings. The pharmacokinetics of primaquine and dihydroartemisinin-\npiperaquine were evaluated in 16 healthy Thai adult volunteers in a randomized crossover study. Volunteers were\nrandomized to two groups of three sequential hospital admissions to receive 30 mg (base) primaquine, 3 tablets of dihydroartemisinin-\npiperaquine (120/960 mg), and the drugs together at the same doses. Blood sampling was performed over 3 days following\nprimaquine and 36 days following dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine dosing. Pharmacokinetic assessment was done with a\nnoncompartmental approach. The drugs were well tolerated. There were no statistically significant differences in dihydroartemisinin\nand piperaquine pharmacokinetics with or without primaquine. Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine coadministration\nsignificantly increased plasma primaquine levels; geometric mean ratios (90% confidence interval [CI]) of primaquine combined\nversus primaquine alone for maximum concentration (Cmax), area under the concentration-time curve from 0 h to the end of the\nstudy (AUC0ââ?¬â??last), and area under the concentration-time curve from 0 h to infinity (AUC0ââ?¬â??) were 148% (117 to 187%), 129%\n(103 to 163%), and 128% (102 to 161%), respectively. This interaction is similar to that described recently with chloroquine and\nmay result in an enhanced radical curative effect. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no.\nNCT01525511.)
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