ABSTRACT

Base: MW 320; phosphate: MW 516. 1 g dissolves in 4 ml of water. Sulphate: MW 436; pKa 8.4, 10.8.1 g dissolves in 3 ml of water. The drug should be protected from light.

Pharmacology and mechanism of action

Chloroquine was first synthesized by Andersag in 1934 and the initial clinical studies were performed in Germany. The drug later underwent extensive clinical studies by the Americans in 1944 and was found to be an outstanding antimalarial compound. Chloroquine is a racemate with two enantiomers with similar antimalarial activity. It is a potent schizontocidal drug which is highly effective against the asexual forms of all four species of malaria. It is also active against gametocytes of Plasmodium (P.) vivax, P. malariae and P. ovale, but not against P. falciparum (1).