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 re sistance to chloroquine (cq) and pyrimethamine, respectively. methods: using a restriction digestion method, we report the frequency of two important mutations, t76 and asn108, re spon sible 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 resis tant (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 re sponses.