title: Circulating levels of the interleukin (IL)-4 receptor and of IL-18 in patients with Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
abstract: Circulating levels of sIL-4R, IL-18 and IFN-gamma were studied by ELISA in 36 Gabonese patients with Plasmodium falciparum malaria (29 children, 7 adults). Drug induced clearance of parasitemia, studied in 22 patients with mild disease, was accompanied by a rapid decrease of sIL-4R and IFN-gamma to normal values and an increase of circulating IL-18, suggesting the downregulation of a type 2 biased immune response and a dissociated type 1 responsiveness while resolving parasitemia. Comparing subgroups with hyperparasitemia/severe anemia and mild malaria, children with severe malaria had significant higher levels of sIL-4R and IFN-gamma, whereas IL-18 levels were not statistically different. Furthermore, among those children, higher levels of circulating IL-18 correlated with a lower degree of parasitemia.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Währingergürtel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Perkmann
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Winkler
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Graninger
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Kremsner
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Winkler
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005681:Gabon; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood*; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000097:blood; D019948:Receptors, Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D020382:Interleukin-18; D019948:Receptors, Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma