Characterizing the Relationship of Histidine-Rich Protein-2 to the Neurologic Sequelae of Severe Malaria
2013-04-20
Loading...
View/Download File
Persistent link to this item
Statistics
View StatisticsJournal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Title
Characterizing the Relationship of Histidine-Rich Protein-2 to the Neurologic Sequelae of Severe Malaria
Authors
Published Date
2013-04-20
Publisher
Type
Presentation
Abstract
Despite improvements in malaria control and diagnostics, severe malaria continues to claim 800,000 lives every year. Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that most often causes the severe forms of malaria, detoxifies its internal environment in the red blood cell stage of infection through a process mediated by the parasite-secreted histidine-rich protein 2 (pHRP2). pHRP-2 is
widely used in diagnostics, yet its role in severe malaria is not well defined. Therefore, this project aimed to characterize the relationship of pHRP2 to the
neurologic sequelae of severe malaria. My hypothesis was that pHRP2 levels
would be significantly higher in children with severe disease, as compared to
healthy controls and that higher levels would be associated with neurologic
sequelae. pHRP2 levels were measured and compared between plasma samples from
children diagnosed with cerebral malaria (CM), severe malarial anemia (SMA)
and community controls (CC). CM samples were found to have the highest levels of pHRP2, followed by SMA and then CC. pHRP2 levels were also significantly increased in patients that had neurologic sequestration, as determined by retinopathy, and in patients who died from infection. The strong
association between pHRP2 and severe disease, mortality and neurologic
sequestration suggests that pHRP2 plays a role in the pathogenesis of severe
malaria.
Keywords
Description
Related to
Replaces
License
Series/Report Number
Funding information
This research was supported by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP).
Isbn identifier
Doi identifier
Previously Published Citation
Other identifiers
Suggested citation
Friesen, Alexis. (2013). Characterizing the Relationship of Histidine-Rich Protein-2 to the Neurologic Sequelae of Severe Malaria. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/150151.
Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.