To better understand the mechanisms enabling malaria parasites to circulate in the blood without causing symptoms, we performed transcriptomic analysis of blood from 44 Ghanaian children: 12 children with symptomatic P. falciparum infection, 25 with asymptomatic P. falciparum malaria, and 7 healthy uninfected children.
Blood transcriptomics is a powerful and sensitive tool for characterising the host response to infection. The transcriptome of blood leukocytes reflects both cell-intrinsic responses to pathogens and the effect of cell-extrinsic stimuli, such as cytokines that are released into circulation. To better understand the mechanisms enabling malaria parasites to circulate in the blood without causing symptoms, we performed transcriptomic analysis of blood from 44 Ghanaian children: 12 children with symptomatic P. falciparum infection, 25 with asymptomatic P. falciparum malaria, and 7 healthy uninfected children.