Plasma Blood Levels of Tafenoquine following a Single Oral Dosage in BALBc Mice with Acute Babesia microti Infection That Resulted in Rapid Clearance of Microscopically Detectable Parasitemia

Abstract

Previous studies of mice infected with Babesia microti have shown that a single dose of tafenoquine administered orally is extremely effective at decreasing microscopically detectable parasitemia. However, a critical limitation of studies to date is the lack of data concerning the plasma levels of tafenoquine that are needed to treat babesiosis. In the current study, we begin to address this gap by examining the plasma levels of tafenoquine associated with the rapid reduction of B. microti patent parasitemia in a mouse model of babesiosis. In the current study, we infected BALB/c mice with 1 × 107 B. microti-infected red blood cells. Two days post-infection, mice were treated with 20 mg/kg of tafenoquine succinate or vehicle control administered orally by gavage. Parasitemia and plasma levels of tafenoquine were evaluated every 24 h post-treatment for 96 h. This allowed us to correlate blood plasma levels of tafenoquine with reductions in parasitemia in treated mice. Consistent with previous studies, a single oral dose of 20 mg/kg tafenoquine resulted in a rapid reduction in parasitemia. Plasma levels of tafenoquine 24 h post-administration ranged from 347 to 503 ng/mL and declined thereafter. This blood plasma tafenoquine level is similar to that achieved in humans using the current FDA-approved dose for the prevention of malaria.