Development of ELISA-based methods to measure the anti-malarial drug chloroquine in plasma and in pharmaceutical formulations
2011

Developing a Simple Test for Chloroquine in Malaria Treatment

Sample size: 4 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Khalil Insaf F, Alifrangis Michael, Recke Camilla, Hoegberg Lotte C, Ronn Anita, Bygbjerg Ib C, Koch Claus

Primary Institution: Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen

Hypothesis

The study aims to develop an inexpensive, simple antibody-based ELISA to measure chloroquine concentrations in tablets and in plasma.

Conclusion

The developed ELISA can be used for quality screening of chloroquine in pharmaceutical formulations and for drug monitoring in malaria and other infectious diseases.

Supporting Evidence

  • The ELISA showed high agreement with HPLC results (r = 0.98).
  • The lower limit of detection for the ELISA was 3.9 ng/ml.
  • The specificity in the negative control group was 100%.
  • The method is affordable, costing less than US $2 per sample.

Takeaway

Researchers created a new test to check if malaria medicine called chloroquine is good quality, which helps keep people safe from fake drugs.

Methodology

A monoclonal antibody was developed and used in an ELISA to detect chloroquine in plasma and tablets, validated against HPLC.

Limitations

Further validation in large field trials is needed.

Participant Demographics

Four volunteers ingested chloroquine tablets for the study.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1475-2875-10-249

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