Complement-regulatory proteins in severe malaria: too little or too much of a good thing?
Data from several laboratories suggest that erythrocyte complement-regulatory proteins, in particular complement receptor 1 (CR1), are important in the pathogenesis of severe malaria. Additional studies suggest that the levels of expression of CR1 and the complement regulator CD55 on erythrocytes vary with age, being low in young children and increasing with age. It is proposed that the interplay between the rate at which immunity develops during malaria exposure and the changes in levels of erythrocyte complement-regulatory proteins that occur with age might contribute to the differences in epidemiology of severe malaria-associated anaemia and cerebral malaria.
Stoute
José A
JA
Department of Cellular Injury, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. jose.stoute@us.army.mil
D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology; D000818:Animals; D018958:CD55 Antigens / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000276:immunology*; D016779:Malaria, Cerebral / Q000276:immunology; D011951:Receptors, Complement / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012397:Rosette Formation
D018958:CD55 Antigens; D011951:Receptors, Complement