title: Linkage of mild malaria to the major histocompatibility complex in families living in Burkina Faso.
abstract: Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) is thought to be a critical mediator of malaria fever, and mild malaria was previously reported to be linked to the MHC region containing the tumor necrosis factor alpha gene (TNF). Thirty-four families from Burkina Faso were analyzed to test for linkage between polymorphisms within the MHC region and mild malaria using the maximum-likelihood-binomial (MLB) program. Two-point analysis indicated linkage of mild malaria to TNFd (LOD = 3.27; P = 5.44 x 10(-5)). Using multipoint analysis, we also found evidence for linkage of mild malaria to the MHC region, with a peak close to TNF (LOD = 3.86; P = 1.22 x 10(-5)). Our results support genes within the MHC region being involved in mild malaria. In particular, the genetic variation within TNF may influence susceptibility to mild malaria. Nevertheless, TNF-238, TNF-244 and TNF-308 polymorphisms are unlikely to explain linkage of mild malaria to the MHC region, and the causal mutations remain to be identified.
authors.affiliation: Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Flori
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sawadogo
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Esnault
authors.forename: Nicolas Frédéric
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Delahaye
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fumoux
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rihet
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D002050:Burkina Faso; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000235:genetics*; D008288:Malaria / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic