Macrophage migrating inhibitory factor expression is associated with Trypanosoma brucei gambiense infection and is controlled by trans-acting expression quantitative trait loci in the Guinean population

Infection by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense is characterized by a wide array of clinical outcomes, ranging from asymptomatic to acute disease and even spontaneous cure. In this study, we investigated the association between macrophage migrating inhibitory factor (MIF), an important pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays a central role in both innate and acquired immunity, and disease outcome during T. b. gambiense infection. A comparative expression analysis of patients, individuals with latent infection and controls found that MIF had significantly higher expression in patients (n = 141; 1.25 ± 0.07; p