Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Bulletin of the World Health Organization logoLink to Bulletin of the World Health Organization
. 1996;74(6):591–597.

A clinical trial with halofantrine on patients with falciparum malaria in Colombia.

M Restrepo 1, D Botero 1, R E Marquez 1, E F Boudreau 1, V Navaratnam 1
PMCID: PMC2486805  PMID: 9060219

Abstract

A total of 120 semi-immune adult male malaria patients from an area of multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria were hospitalized for 42 days in Medellin, Colombia (an area of no malaria transmission), and treated with halofantrine in a double-blind, randomized, prospective clinical trial according to five different treatment schedules. Each patient was assigned to one of the following halofantrine schedules: I, one dose of 1000 mg; II, three doses of 500 mg; III, two doses of 500 mg; IV, three doses of 250 mg; and V, one dose of 750 mg. Best results (75% cure rate) were obtained with schedule II, although there was no statistically significant difference compared with the other schedules. A total of 46 patients experienced recrudescent malaria. Drug levels in plasma 72 hours after beginning treatment showed no statistically significant difference between relapsing and cured patients. Side-effects (mainly gastrointestinal) were uncommon and mild. Cardiotoxicity was studied by electrocardiogram. A mean prolongation of 28.5 ms (6.6 +/- 6.3% increase from baseline) was observed in the Q-Tc interval on day 1 of the trial.

Full text

PDF
591

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bouchaud O., Basco L. K., Gillotin C., Gimenez F., Ramiliarisoa O., Genissel B., Bouvet E., Farinotti R., Le Bras J., Coulaud J. P. Clinical efficacy and pharmacokinetics of micronized halofantrine for the treatment of acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria in nonimmune patients. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1994 Aug;51(2):204–213. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1994.51.204. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Boudreau E. F., Pang L. W., Dixon K. E., Webster H. K., Pavanand K., Tosingha L., Somutsakorn P., Canfield C. J. Malaria: treatment efficacy of halofantrine (WR 171,669) in initial field trials in Thailand. Bull World Health Organ. 1988;66(2):227–235. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brasseur P., Bitsindou P., Moyou R. S., Eggelte T. A., Samba G., Penchenier L., Druilhe P. Fast emergence of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to halofantrine. Lancet. 1993 Apr 3;341(8849):901–902. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(93)93115-h. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cosgriff T. M., Boudreau E. F., Pamplin C. L., Doberstyn E. B., Desjardins R. E., Canfield C. J. Evaluation of the antimalarial activity of the phenanthrenemethanol halofantrine (WR 171,669). Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1982 Nov;31(6):1075–1079. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1982.31.1075. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Coulaud J. P., Le Bras J., Matheron S., Moriniere B., Saimot A. G., Rossignol J. F. Treatment of imported cases of falciparum malaria in France with halofantrine. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1986;80(4):615–617. doi: 10.1016/0035-9203(86)90158-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Nosten F., ter Kuile F. O., Luxemburger C., Woodrow C., Kyle D. E., Chongsuphajaisiddhi T., White N. J. Cardiac effects of antimalarial treatment with halofantrine. Lancet. 1993 Apr 24;341(8852):1054–1056. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(93)92412-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Nothdurft H. D., Clemens R., Bock H. L., Löscher T. Halofantrine: a new substance for treatment of multidrug-resistant malaria. Clin Investig. 1993 Jan;71(1):69–73. doi: 10.1007/BF00210972. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Rinehart J., Arnold J., Canfield C. J. Evaluation of two phenanthrenemethanols for antimalarial activity in man: WR 122,455 and WR 171,669. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1976 Nov;25(6):769–774. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1976.25.769. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Shanks G. D., Watt G., Edstein M. D., Webster H. K., Loesuttiviboon L., Wechgritaya S. Halofantrine given with food for falciparum malaria. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1992 May-Jun;86(3):233–234. doi: 10.1016/0035-9203(92)90286-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Shanks G. D., Watt G., Edstein M. D., Webster H. K., Suriyamongkol V., Watanasook C., Panpunnung S., Kowinwiphat W. Halofantrine for the treatment of mefloquine chemoprophylaxis failures in Plasmodium falciparum infections. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1991 Oct;45(4):488–491. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1991.45.488. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. ter Kuile F. O., Dolan G., Nosten F., Edstein M. D., Luxemburger C., Phaipun L., Chongsuphajaisiddhi T., Webster H. K., White N. J. Halofantrine versus mefloquine in treatment of multidrug-resistant falciparum malaria. Lancet. 1993 Apr 24;341(8852):1044–1049. doi: 10.1016/0140-6736(93)92409-m. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Bulletin of the World Health Organization are provided here courtesy of World Health Organization

RESOURCES