title: Suppression of RANTES in children with Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
abstract: Severe malarial anemia (MA) is the primary manifestation of severe malaria among children in areas of holoendemic Plasmodium falciparum transmission. Although overproduction of inflammatory-derived cytokines are implicated in the immunopathogenesis of severe MA, chemokines such as regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES, CCL5) are largely unexplored in childhood malaria. We found that RANTES is decreased during severe MA (p<0.01), and associated with suppression of erythropoiesis (p<0.05) and malaria-induced thrombocytopenia (p<0.05). These findings suggest that thrombocytopenia may be a source of reduced RANTES which may contribute, at least in part, to suppression of erythropoiesis in children with malarial anemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Health Sciences, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Were
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Hittner
authors.forename: Collins
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ouma
authors.forename: Richard O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Otieno
authors.forename: Alloys S S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Orago
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ong'echa
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Vulule
authors.forename: Christopher C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Douglas J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Perkins
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018946:Chemokine CCL5 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D018946:Chemokine CCL5