Hundreds of altered Proteins in the blood can reveal the severity of malaria

Good news! At least 250 plasma proteins are severely affected by acute malaria.

"Karolinska Institutet researchers identified 250+ blood proteins altered by malaria, in a mapping study in Immunity—a discovery that the authors say could predict which patients are most at risk and supports earlier, more targeted malaria treatment."

"... The study, published in the journal Immunity, was conducted on 72 adult travellers diagnosed with malaria at Karolinska University Hospital after returning from tropical regions.

By analysing blood samples from these individuals, who were followed for a year, the researchers were able to identify around 700 proteins that changed during the infection, of which over 250 were strongly affected. ..."

From the highlights and abstract:

"Highlights

• Extensive plasma protein perturbations detected during natural P. falciparum malaria

• Protein profiles stratified patients and revealed a disease-severity signature

• Activated T cells emerge as key targets of innate immune-derived plasma proteins

• A systems-level resource for malaria pathogenesis and biomarker discovery

Summary

Malaria presents with varying degrees of severity. To improve clinical management and prevention, it is crucial to understand the pathogenesis and host response.

We analyzed 1,463 plasma proteins during and after acute Plasmodium falciparum malaria in adult travelers and linked responses to peripheral immune cells by integrating with single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data from a subset of donors.

We identified extensive perturbations in over 250 proteins with diverse origins, including many not previously analyzed in malaria patients, such as hormones, circulating receptors, and intracellular or membrane-bound proteins from affected tissues.

The protein profiles clustered participants according to disease severity, enabling the identification of a compressed 11-protein signature enriched in severe malaria.

Conceptually, this study advances our understanding of malaria by linking systemic proteomic changes to immune cell communication and organ-specific responses. This resource, which includes an interactive platform to explore data, opens new avenues for hypothesis generation, biomarker discovery, and therapeutic target identification."

Global Health NOW: Danish Study Finds Aluminum in Vaccines Safe; Abortion Access in Sicily; and Missed Flood Warnings in Texas and North Carolina

Proteins in the blood can reveal the severity of malaria (original news release)

Systems analysis of clinical malaria reveals proteomic perturbation and innate-adaptive crosstalk linked to disease severity (open access)

Graphical abstract