Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Nov 8:2021:7785180.
doi: 10.1155/2021/7785180. eCollection 2021.

Recent Advances in Understanding the Inflammatory Response in Malaria: A Review of the Dual Role of Cytokines

Gabriela Loredana Popa  1 , Mircea Ioan Popa  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Recent Advances in Understanding the Inflammatory Response in Malaria: A Review of the Dual Role of Cytokines

Gabriela Loredana Popa et al. J Immunol Res. .

Abstract

Malaria is a serious and, in some unfortunate cases, fatal disease caused by a parasite of the Plasmodium genus. It predominantly occurs in tropical areas where it is transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito. The pathogenesis of malaria is complex and incompletely elucidated. During blood-stage infection, in response to the presence of the parasite, the host's immune system produces proinflammatory cytokines including IL-6, IL-8, IFN-γ, and TNF, cytokines which play a pivotal role in controlling the growth of the parasite and its elimination. Regulatory cytokines such as transforming growth factor- (TGF-) β and IL-10 maintain the balance between the proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses. However, in many cases, cytokines have a double role. On the one hand, they contribute to parasitic clearance, and on the other, they are responsible for pathological changes encountered in malaria. Cytokine-modulating strategies may represent a promising modern approach in disease management. In this review, we discuss the host immune response in malaria, analyzing the latest studies on the roles of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The host-pathogen-environment interactions.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The role of different involved effector cells and cytokine mediators in the pathogenesis of malaria.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Esayas E., Tufa A., Massebo F., et al. Malaria epidemiology and stratification of incidence in the malaria elimination setting in Harari Region, Eastern Ethiopia. Eastern Ethiopia. Infectious Diseases of Poverty . 2020;9(1):p. 160. doi: 10.1186/s40249-020-00773-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wassmer S. C., Grau G. E. R. Severe malaria: what's new on the pathogenesis front? International Journal for Parasitology . 2017;47(2–3):145–152. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2016.08.002. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. CDC-parasites-malaria [Internet] 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/malaria/index.html .
    1. World malaria report. 2020. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240015791 .
    1. Basu S., Sahi P. K. Malaria: an update. Indian Journal of Pediatrics . 2017;84(7):521–528. doi: 10.1007/s12098-017-2332-2. - DOI - PubMed