Neuronal monoamine reuptake inhibitors enhance in vitro susceptibility to chloroquine in resistant Plasmodium falciparum.

Chloroquine resistance in Plasmodium falciparum was reversed in vitro by the neuronal monoamine reuptake inhibitors and antidepressants desipramine, sertraline, fluoxetine, and norfluoxetine but not by carbamazepine, an antiseizure and mood-stabilizing tricyclic drug resembling desipramine which only weakly inhibits neuronal monoamine reuptake. These findings have important clinical implications for drug combination therapy.