Patient age does not affect mefloquine concentrations in erythrocytes and plasma during the acute phase of falciparum malaria

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether patient age has a significant impact on mefloquine concentrations in the plasma and erythrocytes over the course of treatment for uncomplicated falciparum malaria. METHODS: A total of 20 children aged between 8 and 11 years and 20 adult males aged between 22 and 41 years with uncomplicated falciparum malaria were enrolled in the study. Mefloquine was administered to patients in both age groups at a dose of 20 mg kg(−1). The steady-state drug concentrations were measured by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS: All patients had an undetectable mefloquine concentration on day 0. In adults, the plasma mefloquine concentrations ranged from 770 to 2930 ng mL(−1) and the erythrocyte concentrations ranged from 2000 to 6030 ng mL(−1). In children, plasma mefloquine concentrations ranged from 881 to 3300 ng mL(−1) and erythrocyte concentrations ranged from 3000 to 4920 ng mL(−1). There was no significant correlation between mefloquine concentrations in the plasma and erythrocytes in either adults or children. CONCLUSION: In the present study, we observed no effect of patient age on the steady-state concentrations of mefloquine in the plasma and erythrocytes. We found that the mefloquine concentration in the erythrocytes was approximately 2.8-times higher than in the plasma. There were no significant correlations between mefloquine concentrations in the erythrocytes and plasma for either age group.