Malaria is a protozoan disease caused by the bite of a female anopheline mosquito which is infected by the protozoa Plasmodium. It is the world’s third-ranked infectious killer disease after HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis1. Currently, six species of Plasmodium (P. falciparum, P. vivax, two sympatric species of P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi) are known to cause malaria2. Of these, P. vivax wa...

Children in sub-Saharan Africa continue to acquire and die from cerebral malaria, despite efforts to control or eliminate the causative agent, Plasmodium falciparum. We present a quantitative histopathological assessment of the sequestration of parasitized erythrocytes in multiple organs obtained during a prospective series of 103 autopsies performed between 1996 and 2010 in Blantyre, Malawi, o...

Cerebral malaria is a clinical manifestation of the brain during Plasmodium falciparum infection, which may lead to fatal outcomes if left unattended or delayed in therapeutic management. It is often accompanied by multi-organ complications such as renal failure, respiratory distress, jaundice, severe anemia etc., further raising the degree of mortality. Over the years, the management of severe...

UNLABELLED Cerebral malaria (CM) is a disease of the vascular endothelium caused by Plasmodium falciparum It is characterized by parasite sequestration, inflammatory cytokine production, and vascular leakage. A distinguishing feature of P. falciparum infection is parasite production and secretion of histidine-rich protein II (HRPII). Plasma HRPII is a diagnostic and prognostic marker for falcip...

Nitric oxide (NO)-related activity has been shown to be protective against Plasmodium falciparum in vitro. It has been hypothesized, however, that excess NO production contributes to the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria. The purpose of this study was to compare markers of NO production [urinary and plasma nitrate + nitrite (NOx)], leukocyte-inducible nitric oxide synthase type 2 (NOS2), and pla...

Infection with Plasmodium falciparum can cause severe disease in the non-immune individual. Cerebral malaria is in most cases just one of the organs affected by the disease. The direct cause of coma in cerebral malaria remains obscure. A compromised microcirculation, with sequestration of parasitized erythrocytes, is central in the pathogenesis. Intravenous artesunate is superior to quinine in ...

Plasmodium falciparum has exerted tremendous selective pressure on genes that improve survival in severe malarial infections. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that is six to eight times more prevalent in women of African descent than in women of European descent. Here we provide evidence that a genetic susceptibility to SLE protects against cerebral malaria. Mice that...

Malaria remains a challenging diagnosis with variable clinical presentation and a wide spectrum of disease severity. Using a structured case report form, we prospectively assessed 1,933 children at Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda with acute Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Children with uncomplicated malaria significantly differed from those with severe disease for 17 features. Among 855 child...