Artesunate plus amodiaquine combination therapy: reviewing the evidence

Abstract

The combination of artesunate plus amodiaquine (AS/AQ) is, next to the fixed-dose combination of artemether-lumefantrine, the most widely adopted artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) regimen being used as first-line therapy for uncomplicated malaria by National Malaria Control Programs in sub-Saharan Africa. In contrast to other ACT regimens in current use, on which reviews of the available evidence on safety and efficacy have been periodically published, no, or few summaries of the extensive data available on the safety and efficacy of this widely used ACT are available in the published literature. The available evidence on AS/AQ indicates high efficacy of this combination in children, variable tolerability in adults, and an interaction between artesunate and amodiaquine that could have implications for medium term efficacy or safety of the combination. In this article, a review of the available evidence on the efficacy and safety on AS/AQ, with a particular focus on parameters that could have operational significance for malaria control in endemic areas, is presented and discussed. Drug Dev Res 71:33-43, 2010.

Characterization of stress degradation products of amodiaquine dihydrochloride by liquid chromatography with high‐resolution mass spectrometry and prediction of their properties by using ADMET Predictor™

“…It is prescribed in combination with artesunate for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria, whereby it also helps in reduction of drug resistance. Practically, it has been a part of first‐line treatment for African children . After the March, 2014 Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa in March 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the same combination to decrease the disease's mortality rate .…”

Solid-State Characterization and Interconversion of Recrystallized Amodiaquine Dihydrochloride in Aliphatic Monohydric Alcohols

“…It is a derivative of quinolines, and it is more effective than chloroquine against resistant malarial parasites (12)(13)(14)(15). Amodiaquine (AQ), a 4-[(7-chloro-4-quinolinyl)amino]-2-[(diethyl-amino)methyl]phenol, exists as dihydrochloride salt in anhydrous, monohydrate, and dihydrate forms (16).…”