Comparison of oral artesunate and quinine plus tetracycline in acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria.

Comparison of oral artesunate and quinine plus tetracycline in acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria J. Karbwang,1 K. Na-Bangchang,2 A. Thanavibul,3 D. Bunnag,4 T. Chongsuphajaisiddhi,5 & T. Harinasuta6 In Thailand Plasmodium falciparum malaria is highly resistant to available antimalarials. Investigations on the efficacy of existing antimalarials and of alternative drugs are urgently needed. Artesunate has been shown to be effective against falciparum malaria, but is associated with a high recrudescence rate. We have carried out a comparative clinical trial of the standard regimen of quinine + tetracycline versus oral artesunate at a 700-mg total dose given over 5 days to patients with acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria. The 64 male patients who took part in the study were randomized to receive either quinine-tetracycline (33 patients) or oral artesunate (31 patients). All the patients were admitted to the Bangkok Hospital for Tropical Diseases for 28 days. Oral artesunate had faster parasite and fever clearance times than the combination quinine-tetracy- cline, but the cure rate was not significantly different for the two regimens. However, the occurrence of adverse effects, such as tinnitus, was significantly higher in the quinine-tetracycline group. Surprisingly nausea and dizziness were rather common with artesunate. The possibility of neurological adverse effects for artesunate should also be borne in mind. Oral artesunate (700 mg given over 5 days) is effective and better tolerated than the combination quinine-tetracycline. The cure rate we obtained is higher than that reported in previous studies with 600 mg of oral artesunate given over 5 days. Oral artesunate can be considered as an alternative drug for multiple-drug-resistant falciparum malaria; however, adverse effects, particularly neurotoxicity, should be closely monitored before its widespread use can be recommended. In areas where artesunate is not available, the use of quinine-tetracycline for 7 days is still very effective if its administration can be supervised. Introduction In Thailand, multiple-drug-resistant strains of falci- parum malaria are increasing and spreading (1, 2). Mefloquine is used as the first-line drug for uncom- plicated falciparum malaria in Thailand; however, 1 Associate Professor, Head of Clinical Pharmacology Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 420/6 Rajvithi Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. Requests for reprints should be sent to this author. 2 Pharmacologist, Clinical Pharmacology Unit, Faculty of Tropi- cal Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. 3 Head Nurse, Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Tropi- cal Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. 4 Professor and Consultant, Malaria Division, Ministry of Public Health, Bangkok, Thailand. 5 Professor, Dean of Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol Uni- versity, Bangkok, Thailand. 6 Professor and Consultant, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahi- dol University, Bangkok, Thailand. Reprint No. 5473 the efficacy of this drug has dropped dramatically in the country to less than 60% (3). The combination qui- nine + tetracycline improves the cure rate from 75% to 95-100% compared with the use of quinine alone (2). This combination is therefore being used as a second-line drug treatment for uncomplicated ma- laria. However, the compliance of patients limits its use for home treatment. Cinchonism would be expec- ted in practically all patients on this combined regi- men. Alternative drugs that are better or equally as effective and which have fewer adverse effects therefore need to be studied. Artesunate is a derivative of artemisinin and clears parasitaemia as rapidly as artemether (another derivative of artemisinin) (3-6). The parasite clear- ance rate of artesunate is faster than that of any other antimalarial (3, 7, 8). The potency of artesunate has been shown in several clinical trials in China and Thailand, and the adverse effects reported are very mild and transient (9-13). In China, the recommend- ed total dose of artesunate has been 600 mg given Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 1994, 72 (2): 233-238 © World Health Organization 1994 233 J. Karbwang et al. over 5 days (14). However, recent studies in Thai- land have shown that at this dosage the cure rate with uncomplicated falciparum malaria was only 72-90% when administered orally (10-13). The proper dosage regimen of artesunate for the treat- ment of multiple-drug-resistant falciparum malaria remains to be decided. Based on the efficacy of oral artesunate reported in recent studies (9-13), the duration of the treatment should be at least 5 days and the dose needs to be >600 mg to achieve a cure rate that approaches 100%. It is therefore interesting to assess the efficacy of a higher dose of artesunate in patients with multiple-drug-resistant falciparum malaria compared with that of the second-line drug treatment, quinine-tetracycline. Patients and methods A total of 64 adult Thai, male patients with acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria (asexual-form parasitaemia, <5%), aged 15-35 years, and of weight range 43-65 kg were recruited into the study. We excluded patients who had a history of liver or kid- ney disease, and patients who had received antima- larial treatment for their current episode of illness. Patients with severe manifestations of malaria were also excluded (15). The written, informed consent for participation in the study was obtained from all the patients. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. Prior to receiving the treatment, blood smears were collected from each patient for malaria parasite identification and 3 ml of venous blood was drawn to determine the baseline drug concentrations of meflo- quine and quinine. Patients who had previously received these two drugs were excluded from the study. All patients were admitted to the Bangkok Hospital for Tropical Diseases for 28 days. The patients were randomly allocated (open ran- domization) to receive one of the two drug regimens, i.e., artesunate or the combination quinine-tetracy- cline as follows: - 200 mg of artesunate as an initial dose, followed by 100 mg 12 hours later, and 100 mg daily for another 4 days (total dose: 700 mg); - 600 mg of quinine sulfate at 8-hour intervals plus 250 mg of tetracycline at 6-hour intervals for 7 days. Both regimens were administered orally with a glass of water under supervision. Based on previous data, the sample sizes chosen for the study were designed to detect a 35% faster parasite clearance rate from artesunate than from quinine-tetracycline (at a 95% confidence level). Patients who failed to respond to either regimen were treated with 600 mg of quinine sulfate at 8-hour intervals plus 250 mg of tetracycline at 6-hour inter- vals, for 7 days. Patients who had Plasmodium vivax malaria during the follow-up period were given 150 mg of chloroquine base to suppress the symp- toms and received a full course of treatment on dis- charge. Parasite identification was performed using thick and thin peripheral smears that had been stained with Field's stain; the parasite counts were reported as counts per 1000 red blood cells or per 200 white blood cells. Blood smears were collected at 6-hour intervals until parasitaemia fell below the level of microscopic detection in thick smears, then twice daily until day 28 of the study. Complete blood counts, blood biochemistry (liver and kidney function tests) and urine analyses were carried out on admission and on days 2, 4 and 7, then weekly until day 28. Electrocardiograms (ECGs) were recorded daily for 7 days in the artesu- nate group, then weekly for the rest of the follow-up period. All adverse reactions during the study period were recorded three times daily during the first week then daily until discharge, and the date and time when they occurred and disappeared were noted. Drug-related adverse effects were defined as signs or symptoms which either increased or first occurred after drug administration. All the abnormalities pos- sibly attributable to artesunate or quinine-tetracy- cline were recorded. Patients were included for efficacy assessment if they had completed the 28-day follow-up period. The efficacy and adverse effects from the two regimens were compared. The following parameters were used to determine the outcome: parasite clearance time (PCT: the time taken for the parasite count to fall below the level of microscopic detection); fever clearance time (FCT: the time taken for the tempera- ture to return to normal, i.e., <37.3 °C and remain so for at least 24 hours); the rate of treatment failure (RI, RII or RIII) (15); and the occurrence of adverse effects. Data from both groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Pretreatment parasitaemia was stratified into three levels (<10 000, 10 000- 100 000 and >100 000 parasites/gl). The Mantel- Haenszel test was used to test for differences in the proportions of patients in each treatment group, and the differences in parasite clearance times were test- ed using analysis of variance. The levels of statistical significance between the groups were calculated using Fisher's exact test (two-tailed) for proportion and the Mann-Whitney U test for other outcome var- iables. WHO Bulletin OMS. Vol 72 1994234 Oral artesunate versus quinine-tetracycline in acute malaria Results All 64 study patients presented with acute symptoms of malaria. None of the patients had mefloquine or quinine in their blood prior to treatment, based on drug analysis by high-performance liquid chroma- tography (HPLC). A total of 31 patients received ar- tesunate and 33 received quinine-tetracycline. The admission clinical and laboratory data were similar for both groups (Table 1). No patients had anaemia on admission, and the admission parasitaemia levels were not statistically different (P = 0.213) in the two groups according to Mantel-Haenszel tests after stra- tification of admission parasitaemia into three levels. In the artesunate group, all patients had a rapid initial response with mean PCT and FCT of 37 hours and 31 hours, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in PCT among patients who presented with low or high pretreatment parasitae- mia. The parasites in all patients cleared rapidly from peripheral blood (Fig. 1). One patient left the hospital without parasitaemia on day 10. Of the 30 patients included in the efficacy assessment, one experienced reappearance of parasitaemia on day 22 (RI response); the cure rate was 96.7%. Fig. 1. Mean parasite clearance times for the artesunate and quinine-tetracycline study groups. 120 100 ~~~~~-e- Artasunate90 ClQuinine - tetracycline 80 co70 ~60 *~50 1.840. 0.30 20 - 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100110 120 Time after administration (hours) In the quinine-tetracycline group all patients were cured, with mean PCT and FCT of 73 hours and 55 hours, respectively. There was no difference in the PCT for patients who had a low or high pre- treatment parasitaemia. Three patients did not com- plete the 28-day follow-up period but left the hospi- tal without parasitaemia on days 7, 8 and 12. Based Table 1: Admission clinical and laboratory data for the 64 study patients, according to treat- ment group Treatment group Artesunate Quinine-tetracycline (n= 31) (n= 33) Mean values Age (years) 25 (15-35)a 23 (17-35) Weight (kg) 51 (43-65) 51 (45-63) Temperature (OC) 38.3 (37.5-40) 38.4 (37.5-39.7) Haematocrit (%) 36 (20-58) 35 (25-45) WBC (per pI)b 5 794 (2 800-8 800) 7 094 (4 200-12 200) Direct bilirubin (mg/100 ml) 0.47 (0.03-1.78) 0.41 (0.12-2.11) Total bilirubin (mg/100 ml) 1.92 (0.45-5.40) 1.83 (0.60-4.90) Alkaline phosphatase (IU) 31 (15-76) 30 (16-60) SGOT (IU)C 45 (19-110) 48 (18-146) SGPT (IU)d 47 (10-201) 46 (10-140) Creatinine (mg/100 ml) 1.2 (0.8-1.9) 1.2 (0.8-3.5) BUN (mg/100 ml)9 18 (7.8-41.5) 17 (5.5-48) Albumin (g/100 ml) 3.8 (3.0-4.4) 4.0 (3.1-4.6) Globulin (g/100 ml) 2.9 (2.2-4.7) 2.9 (2.3-4.4) Geometric mean Parasitaemia 50 206 (504-292 560) 35 188 (351-175 010) (per Il) a Figures in parentheses are the range. b WBC = white blood cell count. c SGOT = serum aspartate aminotransferase. d SGPT = serum alanine aminotransferase. e BUN = blood urea nitrogen. WHO Bulletin OMS. Vol 72 1994 235 J. Karbwang et al. on the data for 30 patients who completed the follow- up, the cure rate was 100%. Comparison of the artesunate and quinine-tetra- cycline groups indicates that PCT and FCT were sig- nificantly faster in the artesunate group (P = 0.000001 and 0.000041, respectively) (Table 2). Also compari- son of the PCT between two treatment groups according to the three levels of pretreatment parasi- taemia confirmed the rapidity of parasite clearance with artesunate for all three levels (P = 0.0085, 0.000003, and 0.00001 for pretreatment parasitaemia levels <10 000, 10 000-100 000 and >100 000 para- sites/tl, respectively). The estimated mean 50%- parasite clearance time from the curves was 11 hours and 24 hours for artesunate and quinine-tetracycline, respectively (Fig. 1). The cure rate was, however, not significantly different for the two groups. Five patients who were treated with artesunate exhibited P. vivax in their peripheral blood between days 13 and 24, while nine patients did so in the combined regimen (between days 21 and 28). In both treatment groups the adverse effects were mild and self-limiting. Tinnitus was a common find- ing in the quinine-tetracycline group but not in the artesunate group. The incidences of nausea, dizziness, and vomiting were not significantly different in the Table 2: Comparison of the therapeutic responses in the 64 study patients, according to treatment group Treatment group Artesunate Quinine-tetracycline (n= 31) (n= 33) Mean valuea Table 3: Adverse effects among the 64 study patients in the two treatment groups No. of patients Artesunate Quinine-tetracycline Adverse effect (n = 31) (n = 33) Nausea Dizziness Vomiting Tinnitus Convulsions Bradycardia 14 (45)a 16 (52) 8 (26) 0 1 (3) 7 (23) 20 (60) 16 (48) 30 (91)b 29 (88)C 0 Not done a Figures in parentheses are percentages. bSignificantly different from artesunate (P = 0.000005; 95% Cl = 0.0083-0.146). c Significantly different from artesunate (P = 0.000001). two groups (Table 3). Bradycardia occurred in seven patients (23%) in the artesunate group (Table 3), mostly on day 2 to day 7. No other arrhythmias were detected in the ECGs. One patient had convulsions 21 hours after receiving the initial dose of artesunate but at this stage still exhibited parasitaemia (PCT = 36 hours). This patient did not receive any drugs prior to admission; no further convulsions occurred after he received 5 mg of intravenous diazepam. No significant drug-related blood profiles or biochemical changes occurred during the course of follow-up in either group, and no significant change in the haematocrit was observed in any of the patients. Discussion PCT (hours) FCT (hours) Responsese Total number of patients No. with S No. with RI No. with RII No. with RIII Cure rate on day 28 No. of patients with P. vivax a PCT = parasite clearance b Figures in parentheses are c Significantly different from Cl = -42 to -24). d Significantly different from z to -1 6). e S = cure, i.e., no reapp; RI = disappearance of paraE days; RIl = decrease of par pears from the peripheral bl even increase in parasitaemi 36.5 (24-52)b 73.2 (36-135)C This is the first comparison of the curative efficacy 31.3 (4-67) 55.4 (4-104)d and adverse effects of a 700-mg dose of oral artesu- nate and quinine-tetracycline for the treatment of 30 30 multiple-drug-resistant falciparum malaria. Oral arte- 29 30 sunate produced a faster reduction in parasitaemia29 30 and FCT than the quinine-tetracycline regimen; 1 - however, the cure rates of the two treatments were - - not statistically different. Use of oral artesunate at - - this dosage regimen is as effective as that reported 96.7% 100% for oral artemether in the treatment of multiple-drug- 5 (days 13-24) 9 (days 21-28) resistant falciparum malaria in a recent study (3). In previous studies, artesunate has been associat- time; FCT = fever clearance time. ed with high recrudescence rates. The maximum 3 the range. dose of oral artesunate used in these studies was artesunate at P = 0.000001 (95% 600 mg and the longest duration was 5 days; never- artesunate at P = 0.000041 (Cl = -37 theless, the regimen was associated with a recrudes- cence rate of 10-28% with uncomplicated falcipar- arance of parasite within 28 days; um malaria (10-13). In the present study, the higher sitaemia but reappearance within 28 dose of 700 mg produced similar PCT and FCT to all rasitaemia but parasite never disap- . . . wlood; Ril = no marked decrease or the previous studies with intravenous or oral artesu- ia 48 hours after treatment. nate at different dosage regimens, but the cure rate WHO Bulletin OMS. Vol 72 1994236 Oral artesunate versus quinine-tetracycline In acute malaria was higher. The previous recommended dose for artesunate (600mg) may not be suitable in areas with high-grade, multiple-drug-resistant malaria because of the high recrudescence rate; however, in other areas this dose may be adequate (14). In Thailand, the second-line therapy for the treatment of falciparum malaria is quinine + tetracy- cline for 7 days. The cure rate for this combined regi- men in the present study was 100%, but because of the long course of treatment and the adverse effects, it is unsuitable for treatment at home due to compli- ance difficulties. In a recent field study the failure rate was approximately 20% (K. Thimasam, unpub- lished observations, 1993). However, under close supervision, the cure rate was found to be satisfac- tory. The results from the present study confirm the effectiveness of the combination quinine-tetracycline, as previously found for hospitalized patients (7). It is not surprising that most of the patients who received quinine-tetracycline experienced tinnitus. However, this condition seemed to affect the compli- ance of the patients, and as a consequence resulted in treatment failure. The occurrence of nausea and diz- ziness was more frequent than that reported in a recent study for a 600 mg total dose of artesunate (13). The most striking finding was the occurrence of convulsions in one patient after two doses of artesu- nate; this has not been reported in previous clinical trials of the drug (9-13). The convulsions may not have been due solely to artesunate because they can be caused by malaria as well, although it is uncom- mon in uncomplicated cases. However, caution should be exercised, particularly with higher doses of artesunate. Monitoring of this adverse effect should be encouraged since there is some evidence from animal studies that higher doses of artemisinin compounds can have an effect on the central nervous system (CNS) (17). In dogs a CNS abnormality was observed after a single high dose (400 or 800 mg/kg) of artemisinin, but the effect was transient and disap- peared within 48 hours (17). The incidence of nau- sea, dizziness and vomiting found in the present study appears to be greater than that found in a recent report on artemether at a 700-mg total dose (3). The bioavailability, pharmacokinetics, and drug metabolism of oral artesunate and artemether clearly need to be determined. The occurrence of vivax malaria was found within a month of beginning the treatment with either of the two regimens and this is comparable to oral artemether (4). The appearance of P. vivax indicates the ineffec- tiveness of artesunate and quinine-tetracycline against the intrahepatic stage of this parasite. Primaquine is therefore, required for radical cure. In conclusion, the duration of treatment with artesunate is shorter than quinine-tetracycline and there are fewer adverse effects. Furthermore, artesu- nate has a more rapid PCT and FCT, which should prevent the occurrence of complications in acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria. We suggest that 700 mg of artesunate given over 5 days is an effec- tive altemative antimalarial in areas with multiple- drug-resistant parasites; however, the adverse effects, particularly neurotoxicity, should be closely monitored. In areas where artesunate is not available, quinine-tetracycline can still be used effectively if administered under supervision. Acknowledgements We thank the nursing and laboratory staff of the Bangkok Hospital for Tropical Diseases, for their assistance, and Dr P. Charoenlarp for his support. The investigation received financial support from the Malaria Unit, Division of Control of Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva and the WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia. Artesu- nate was provided by Atlantic Ltd, Bangkok, Thailand. Resume Comparaison entre I'art6sunate par voie orale et l'association quinine-t6tracycline dans le paludisme A falciparum aigu non compliqu6 En ThaTlande, le paludisme a Plasmodium falcipa- rum est tres resistant aux antipaludeens habituels. 11 est donc urgent d'entreprendre des etudes sur l'efficacite des antipaludeens existants et des medicaments susceptibles de les remplacer. L'arte- sunate s'est revele efficace contre le paludisme a falciparum, mais son emploi s'accompagne d'un taux de recrudescence eleve; toutefois, la posolo- gie ideale pour les formes multiresistantes de la maladie reste a d6terminer. Nous avons effectue un essai clinique pour comparer le traitement classique avec l'association quinine-tetracycline et l'art6sunate par voie orale (dose totale de 700 mg 6tal6e sur cinq jours) dans le paludisme a falcipa- rum aigu non complique. Soixante-quatre patients ont 6t6 repartis de faqon aleatoire en deux groupes: 33 ont ete trai- tes avec la quinine-t6tracycline et 31 avec l'arte- sunate. Tous ont ete admis a l'H6pital des Mala- dies tropicales de Bangkok pendant 28 jours. L'artesunate a provoque la disparition de la parasitemie et de la fievre plus rapidement que l'association quinine-t6tracycline, mais le taux de gu6rison n'a pas pr6sente de difference significa- tive. Toutefois, la survenue d'effets indesirables, comme des bourdonnements d'oreille, a ete nette- ment plus 6lev6e dans le groupe trait6 avec la WHO Bulletin OMS. Vol 72 1994 237 J. Karbwang et al. quinine-tetracycline. Les nausees et les 6tourdis- sements ont 616 relativement frequents avec l'arte- sunate, ce qui est surprenant car ces effets avaient ete rarement constates dans une etude r6cente portant sur l'art6m6ther. 11 ne faut pas sous- estimer le risque d'effets neurologiques de l'art6- sunate, car un patient a presente des convulsions apr6s deux doses de ce m6dicament. L'artesunate par voie orale (700 mg repartis en cinq jours) est efficace et mieux tol6r6 que I'association quinine-t6tracycline. Le taux de gueri- son obtenu dans cette 6tude a 6t6 plus 6leve que dans des 6tudes pr6c6dentes au cours desquelles 600 mg avaient 6t6 administres en cinq jours. L'art6sunate par voie orale constitue donc une autre forme de traitement possible du paludisme a falciparum multir6sistant; toutefois, ses effets secon- daires, et notamment sa neurotoxicite, doivent etre soigneusement 6valu6s avant que son utilisation g6n6ralis6e puisse 6tre recommandee. Dans les r6gions ou l'art6sunate n'est pas disponible, I'admi- nistration de quinine-tetracycline pendant sept jours reste tr6s efficace a condition qu'elle se fasse sous surveillance. References 1. Harinasuta T et al. Southeast Asian journal of tropi- cal medicine and public health, 1990, 21: 552-557. 2. Bunnag D, Harinasuta T. Proceedings of the Sixth International Congress of Parasitology. Canberra, Australian Academy of Sciences, 1986: 169-180. 3. Karbwang J et al. Lancet, 1992, 340: 1245-1248. 4. Bunnag D et al. Southeast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health, 1992, 23: 762-767. 5. Shwe T et al. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1989, 83: 489. 6. 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Chemotherapy of malaria and resistance to antima- larials. Report of a WHO Scientific Group. Geneva, World Health Organization, 1973 (WHO Technical Report Series No. 529). 17. Trigg PI. Economical medicinal plant research, 1984, 3: 20-54. 238 WHO Bulletin OMS. Vol 72 1994