title: Immunological markers of childhood fevers in an area of intense and perennial malaria transmission.
abstract: In order to describe presumed paediatric malaria on a cell-immunological basis, the soluble receptors of IL-2 (sIL-2R) and tumour necrosis factor (sTNF-R55 and sTNF-R75) were quantified in highly exposed young Tanzanian children. Sera were obtained from 66 acute and 72 reported febrile patients during health post consultations and follow-ups and from 68 community controls. Levels of sIL-2R, sTNF-R55 and sTNF-R75 were significantly elevated during fever attacks, especially in very young children. Soluble TNF-R75 levels were most stable and those of sTNF-R55 least. Levels of sTNF-R55 were related to the magnitude of fever and thus appeared to reflect attack severity. Levels of sTNF-R75 were highly significantly associated with parasite density, indicating that this response is malaria-specific. The present study indicates that sTNF-R75 levels could become a useful immunological tool in malaria intervention studies, as they reflect changes in malaria-specific immune responses. Future studies should validate this potential in different endemic settings.
authors.affiliation: Ifakara Centre, Tanzania.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hurt
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thein
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bordmann
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gallati
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Drees
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanner
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Weiss
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005334:Fever / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000472:pathogenicity; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012008:Recurrence; D012995:Solubility
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor