Severe malarial anemia: Innate immunity and pathogenesis

Douglas J. Perkins, Tom Were, Gregory C. Davenport, Prakasha Kempaiah, James B. Hittner, John Michael Ong'echa

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Greater than 80% of malaria-related mortality occurs in sub-Saharan Africa due to infections with Plasmodium falciparum. The majority of P. falciparum-related mortality occurs in im-mune-naïve infants and young children, accounting for 18% of all deaths before five years of age. Clinical manifestations of severe falciparum malaria vary according to transmission in-tensity and typically present as one or more life-threatening complications, including: hy-perparasitemia; hypoglycemia; cerebral malaria; severe malarial anemia (SMA); and respira-tory distress. In holoendemic transmission areas, SMA is the primary clinical manifestation of severe childhood malaria, with cerebral malaria occurring only in rare cases. Mortality rates from SMA can exceed 30% in pediatric populations residing in holoendemic transmission areas. Since the vast majority of the morbidity and mortality occurs in immune-naïve African children less than five years of age, with SMA as the primary manifestation of severe disease, this review will focus primarily on the innate immune mechanisms that govern malaria pathogenesis in this group of individuals. The pathophysiological processes that contribute to SMA involve direct and indirect destruction of parasitized and non-parasitized red blood cells (RBCs), inefficient and/or suppression of erythropoiesis, and dyserythropoiesis. While all of these causal etiologies may contribute to reduced hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations in ma-laria-infected individuals, data from our laboratory and others suggest that SMA in im-mune-naïve children is characterized by a reduced erythropoietic response. One important cause of impaired erythroid responses in children with SMA is dysregulation in the innate immune response. Phagocytosis of malarial pigment hemozoin (Hz) by monocytes, macro-phages, and neutrophils is a central factor for promoting dysregulation in innate inflammatory mediators. As such, the role of P. falciparum-derived Hz (PfHz) in mediating suppression of erythropoiesis through its ability to cause dysregulation in pro- and anti-inflammatory cyto-kines, growth factors, chemokines, and effector molecules is discussed in detail. An improved understanding of the etiological basis of suppression of erythropoietic responses in children with SMA may offer the much needed therapeutic alternatives for control of this global disease burden.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1427-1442
Number of pages16
JournalInternational Journal of Biological Sciences
Volume7
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2 2011

Keywords

  • Innate Immunity
  • Malarial Anemia
  • Pathogenesis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell Biology

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