Nature Communications (Jun 2022)

The impact of malaria-protective red blood cell polymorphisms on parasite biomass in children with severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria

  • S. Uyoga,
  • J. A. Watson,
  • P. Wanjiku,
  • J. C. Rop,
  • J. Makale,
  • A. W. Macharia,
  • S. N. Kariuki,
  • G. M. Nyutu,
  • M. Shebe,
  • M. Mosobo,
  • N. Mturi,
  • K. A. Rockett,
  • C. J. Woodrow,
  • A. M. Dondorp,
  • K. Maitland,
  • N. J. White,
  • T. N. Williams

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30990-5
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

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Numerous candidate malaria protective gene polymorphisms have been proposed. Here, Uyoga et al. investigate associations between malaria-protective red blood cell polymorphisms and total parasite biomass estimated from plasma concentrations of PfHRP2, in a cohort of Kenyan children suffering from severe malaria. They suggest that plasma PfHRP2 and the ratio of the plasma PfHRP2 to the peripheral parasite density (sequestration index) as powerful quantitative phenotypic traits for severe malaria.