Pharmacokinetics of Antimalarial Drug Therapies and Disposition

The pharmacokinetics of antimalarial therapies encompass the processes by which drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolised and eliminated in the human body, with direct implications for efficacy, safety and resistance. Rapidly acting agents such as artemisinin derivatives achieve peak concentrations within hours, reducing parasite biomass, whereas partner drugs like lumefantrine exhibit longer half-lives and accumulate to prevent recrudescence. Host factors—including age, nutritional status, pregnancy and genetic polymorphisms in metabolic enzymes—modify drug exposure and clearance, often necessitating dose adjustments or prolonged regimens. Formulation strategies and sampling techniques influence bioavailability assessments and inform therapeutic monitoring. Advances in modelling and scaling across populations and species underpin dose optimisation, while analytical innovations enhance quantification of active metabolites. A comprehensive understanding of these pharmacokinetic determinants is essential to sustain antimalarial potency, guide public-health interventions and tailor treatment to vulnerable groups worldwide.

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Pharmacokinetics of Antimalarial Drug Therapies and Disposition publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in pharmacokinetics of antimalarial drug therapies and disposition across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Area under the concentration-time curve (AUC): Integrated measure of drug exposure over time.

Bioavailability: Fraction of administered dose reaching systemic circulation unchanged.

Clearance (CL): Volume of plasma from which drug is completely removed per unit time.

Half-life (t½): Time required for plasma concentration to decrease by half.

Volume of distribution (Vd): Theoretical volume in which drug is dispersed.

Allometric scaling: Method to predict pharmacokinetic parameters across species or body sizes.

Physiological-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling: Computational approach integrating physiology and biochemistry to simulate drug kinetics.

References

1. Does acute malnutrition in young children increase the risk of treatment failure following artemisinin-based combination therapy? A WWARN individual patient data meta-analysis. The Lancet Global Health (2024).
2. Estimation of Pediatric Dosage of Antimalarial Drugs, Using Pharmacokinetic and Physiological Approach. Pharmaceutics (2023).
3. Comparison of lumefantrine, mefloquine, and piperaquine concentrations between capillary plasma and venous plasma samples in pregnant women with uncomplicated falciparum and vivax malaria. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (2024).