1. Heritability of the human infectious reservoir of malaria parasites
- Author
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Lassana Konate, Frédéric Ariey, Fatoumata Diene Sarr, Arthur M. Talman, Issarang Nuchprayoon, Cheikh Sokhna, Isabelle Casademont, Chayanon Peerapittayamongkol, Laurence Baril, Didier Menard, Laurence Marrama, Chalisa Louicharoen, Christophe Rogier, Anaïs Levescot, Thanyachai Sura, Rick Paul, Jean-François Trape, Waraphon Phimpraphi, Jaranit Kaewkunwal, Pratap Singhasivanon, Odile Mercereau-Puijalon, Yaye Ramatoulaye Lawaly, Anavaj Sakuntabhai, Adama Tall, Bradley S. Schneider, Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur (RIIP), Génétique de la Réponse aux Infections chez l'Homme, Institut Pasteur [Paris], Pathogénie Virale Moléculaire, Institut Pasteur [Paris]-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Faculté des Sciences et Techniques Dakar, Université Cheikh Anta Diop [Dakar, Sénégal] (UCAD), Department of Tropical Hygiene, Mahidol University [Bangkok], Paludologie afrotropicale, Institut de recherche pour le développement [Dakar, Sénégal] (IRD Hann Maristes), Graduate School [Bangkok, Thailande], Chulalongkorn University [Bangkok], Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, Unité de Recherche en Biologie et Epidémiologie Parasitaires, Institut de Médecine Tropicale du Service de Santé des Armées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Virulence Parasitaire, Institut Pasteur [Paris]-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP), Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Menard, Didier
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Disease reservoir ,Plasmodium vivax ,Public Health and Epidemiology/Infectious Diseases ,Disease ,Cohort Studies ,0302 clinical medicine ,MESH: Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ,MESH: Animals ,MESH: Cohort Studies ,MESH: Plasmodium falciparum ,Genetics and Genomics/Genetics of Disease ,Genetics and Genomics/Medical Genetics ,0303 health sciences ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ,3. Good health ,MESH: Plasmodium vivax ,MESH: alpha-Thalassemia ,[SDV.MP]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology ,Medicine ,MESH: Anemia, Sickle Cell ,Research Article ,Infectious Diseases/Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases ,Science ,030231 tropical medicine ,Plasmodium falciparum ,Anemia, Sickle Cell ,03 medical and health sciences ,alpha-Thalassemia ,parasitic diseases ,Gametocyte ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,[SDV.MP] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology ,030304 developmental biology ,Disease Reservoirs ,MESH: Disease Reservoirs ,MESH: Humans ,Infectious Diseases/Protozoal Infections ,biology.organism_classification ,medicine.disease ,Virology ,Human genetics ,Genetic epidemiology ,Public Health and Epidemiology/Epidemiology ,Malaria - Abstract
BackgroundStudies on human genetic factors associated with malaria have hitherto concentrated on their role in susceptibility to and protection from disease. In contrast, virtually no attention has been paid to the role of human genetics in eliciting the production of parasite transmission stages, the gametocytes, and thus enhancing the spread of disease.Methods and findingsWe analysed four longitudinal family-based cohort studies from Senegal and Thailand followed for 2-8 years and evaluated the relative impact of the human genetic and non-genetic factors on gametocyte production in infections of Plasmodium falciparum or P. vivax. Prevalence and density of gametocyte carriage were evaluated in asymptomatic and symptomatic infections by examination of Giemsa-stained blood smears and/or RT-PCR (for falciparum in one site). A significant human genetic contribution was found to be associated with gametocyte prevalence in asymptomatic P. falciparum infections. By contrast, there was no heritability associated with the production of gametocytes for P. falciparum or P. vivax symptomatic infections. Sickle cell mutation, HbS, was associated with increased gametocyte prevalence but its contribution was small.ConclusionsThe existence of a significant human genetic contribution to gametocyte prevalence in asymptomatic infections suggests that candidate gene and genome wide association approaches may be usefully applied to explore the underlying human genetics. Prospective epidemiological studies will provide an opportunity to generate novel and perhaps more epidemiologically pertinent gametocyte data with which similar analyses can be performed and the role of human genetics in parasite transmission ascertained.
- Published
- 2010
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