1. Malaria is a cause of iron deficiency in African children
- Author
-
Muriuki, John Muthii, Mentzer, Alexander J, Mitchell, Ruth, Webb, Emily L, Etyang, Anthony O, Kyobutungi, Catherine, Morovat, Alireza, Kimita, Wandia, Ndungu, Francis M, Macharia, Alex W, Ngetsa, Caroline J, Makale, Johnstone, Lule, Swaib A, Musani, Solomon K, Raffield, Laura M, Cutland, Clare L, Sirima, Sodiomon B, Diarra, Amidou, Tiono, Alfred B, Fried, Michal, Gwamaka, Moses, Adu-Afarwuah, Seth, Wirth, James P, Wegmüller, Rita, Madhi, Shabir A, Snow, Robert W, Hill, Adrian VS, Rockett, Kirk A, Sandhu, Manjinder S, Kwiatkowski, Dominic P, Prentice, Andrew M, Byrd, Kendra A, Ndjebayi, Alex, Stewart, Christine P, Engle-Stone, Reina, Green, Tim J, Karakochuk, Crystal D, Suchdev, Parminder S, Bejon, Philip, Duffy, Patrick E, Davey Smith, George, Elliott, Alison M, Williams, Thomas N, and Atkinson, Sarah H
- Subjects
Medical Microbiology ,Biomedical and Clinical Sciences ,Clinical Sciences ,Brain Disorders ,Pediatric ,Infectious Diseases ,Malaria ,Vector-Borne Diseases ,Rare Diseases ,Clinical Research ,Infection ,Good Health and Well Being ,Absorption ,Physiological ,Adolescent ,Africa ,Child ,Child ,Preschool ,Female ,Geography ,Hepcidins ,Humans ,Infant ,Iron Deficiencies ,Male ,Mendelian Randomization Analysis ,Sickle Cell Trait ,Medical and Health Sciences ,Immunology ,Biomedical and clinical sciences ,Health sciences - Abstract
Malaria and iron deficiency (ID) are common and interrelated public health problems in African children. Observational data suggest that interrupting malaria transmission reduces the prevalence of ID1. To test the hypothesis that malaria might cause ID, we used sickle cell trait (HbAS, rs334 ), a genetic variant that confers specific protection against malaria2, as an instrumental variable in Mendelian randomization analyses. HbAS was associated with a 30% reduction in ID among children living in malaria-endemic countries in Africa (n = 7,453), but not among individuals living in malaria-free areas (n = 3,818). Genetically predicted malaria risk was associated with an odds ratio of 2.65 for ID per unit increase in the log incidence rate of malaria. This suggests that an intervention that halves the risk of malaria episodes would reduce the prevalence of ID in African children by 49%.
- Published
- 2021