frequency of pfcrt t76 and pfdhfr asn-108 drug resistance mutations in falciparum malaria in southeastern malaria endemic area of iran

background: point mutations in the genes, pfcrt and pfdhfr , have been identified elsewhere as strongly associated with re­sistance to chloroquine (cq) and pyrimethamine, respectively.  methods: using a restriction digestion method, we report the frequency of two important mutations, t76 and asn108, re­spon­sible for conferring resistance to chloroquine and pyrimethamine, respectively, in patients residing in malarious areas of southeastern iran. results: ninety eight and 84% of the patients were found to harbor chloroquine resistant (theronine-76) and pyrimethamine resis­tant (aspargin-108) mutants, respectively. conclusions: despite the high frequency of t76 and asn 108 mutations in iranian patients, combination of cq and pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine (sp) was shown to be quite successful with 100% adequate clinical and parasitological re­sponses.