Figure 1.

Comparison of drug susceptibility assay methods and their principle of detection. Blue and black stripes indicate the time intervals when the corresponding assays are typically carried out and when the detected parasite products are formed, respectively. Pictures below the chart represent parasite maturation during the 48 h of the intraerythrocytic cycle. The P. falciparum HRP2 and pLDH proteins are detected by ELISA and DELI methods. The HRP2 is secreted mostly during the second half of the intraerythrocytic cycle, while the pLDH expression starts during the early stages and finishes by the schizont stage^9,10,60,61. The fluorescent SYBR Green dye is added to the samples after the incubation time to intercalate with the parasitic DNA³³. The RMOD assay exploits the detection of hemozoin, produced by the hemoglobin metabolism of the parasites from early hours of the intraerythrocytic cycle^15,26,43 until the schizont stages.