title: Plasma levels of eight different mediators and their potential as biomarkers of various clinical malaria conditions in African children.
abstract: Plasmodium falciparum infection can lead to several clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic infections (AM) and uncomplicated malaria (UM) to potentially fatal severe malaria (SM), including cerebral malaria (CM). Factors implicated in the progression towards severe disease are not fully understood.
  
  
  
  In the present study, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to investigate the plasma content of several biomarkers of the immune response, namely Neopterin, sCD163, suPAR, Pentraxin 3 (PTX3), sCD14, Fractalkine (CX3CL1), sTREM-1 and MIG (CXCL9), in patients with distinct clinical manifestations of malaria. The goal of this study was to determine the relative involvement of these inflammatory mediators in the pathogenesis of malaria and test their relevance as biomarkers of disease severity.
  
  
  
  ROC curve analysis show that children with AM were characterized by high levels of Fractalkine and sCD163 whereas children with UM were distinguishable by the presence of PTX3 in their plasma. Furthermore, principal component analysis indicated that the combination of Fractalkine, MIG, and Neopterin was the best predictor of AM condition, while suPAR, PTX3 and sTREM-1 combination was the best indicator of UM when compared to AM. The association of Neopterin, suPAR and Fractalkine was strongly predictive of SM or CM compared to UM.
  
  
  
  The results indicate that the simultaneous evaluation of these bioactive molecules as quantifiable blood parameters may be helpful to get a better insight into the clinical syndromes in children with malaria.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR 216 Mère et Enfant Face aux Infections Tropicales, Université Paris-Descartes, Près Sorbonne Paris-Cité, 4, Avenue de l'Observatoire, 75270, Paris, France. Rachida.Tahar@ird.fr.|Faculté de Pharmacie, Près Sorbonne Paris Cité, Université Paris-Descartes, 75270, Paris, France. Rachida.Tahar@ird.fr.|Organisation de Coordination pour la lutte contre les Endémies en Afrique Centrale (OCEAC), Laboratoire de Recherche sur le Paludisme, B. P. 288, Yaoundé, Cameroon. Rachida.Tahar@ird.fr.
authors.forename: Rachida
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tahar
authors.affiliation: Unité de Génétique fonctionnelle des maladies infectieuses, Départment Génomes et Génétique, Institut Pasteur, 28 Rue du Docteur Roux, et CNRS, Unité de recherche associée 3012, 75015, Paris, France.|Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, 1400038, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Catarina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Albergaria
authors.affiliation: Ecole Centrale de Paris, Université Paris-Saclay, UniverSud Paris, Grande Voie des Vignes, 92295, Châtenay-Malabry, France.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zeghidour
authors.affiliation: Organisation de Coordination pour la lutte contre les Endémies en Afrique Centrale (OCEAC), Laboratoire de Recherche sur le Paludisme, B. P. 288, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Vincent Foumane
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Ngane
authors.affiliation: Organisation de Coordination pour la lutte contre les Endémies en Afrique Centrale (OCEAC), Laboratoire de Recherche sur le Paludisme, B. P. 288, Yaoundé, Cameroon.|Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR 198 Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes, Faculté de Médecine La Timone, Aix-Marseille Université, 13385, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Leonardo K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Basco
authors.affiliation: Unité de Génétique fonctionnelle des maladies infectieuses, Départment Génomes et Génétique, Institut Pasteur, 28 Rue du Docteur Roux, et CNRS, Unité de recherche associée 3012, 75015, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roussilhon
mesh_terms: D001685:Biological Factors / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008288:Malaria / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D010949:Plasma / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001685:Biological Factors; D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Biomarkers; Fractalkine; Neopterin; Plasmodium falciparum; cerebral malaria; sCD14; sCD163; sTREM-1; suPAR