Ethnic differences in susceptibility to malaria: what have we learned from immuno-epidemiological studies in West Africa?

Charles Arama; Bakary Maiga; Amagana Dolo; Bourèma Kouriba; Boubacar Traoré; Peter D Crompton; Susan K Pierce; Marita Troye-Blomberg; Louis H Miller; Ogobara K Doumbo

doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2015.03.023

Ethnic differences in susceptibility to malaria: what have we learned from immuno-epidemiological studies in West Africa?

Acta Trop. 2015 Jun:146:152-6. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2015.03.023. Epub 2015 Mar 27.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Malaria Research and Training Center, Department of Epidemiology of Parasitic Diseases, FMOS-FAPH, ICER Mali-NIAID, University of Sciences, Technique and Technology of Bamako, Bamako, Mali. Electronic address: charama@icermali.org.
² Malaria Research and Training Center, Department of Epidemiology of Parasitic Diseases, FMOS-FAPH, ICER Mali-NIAID, University of Sciences, Technique and Technology of Bamako, Bamako, Mali.
³ Laboratory of Immunogenetics, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA.
⁴ Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Sweden.
⁵ Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
⁶ Malaria Research and Training Center, Department of Epidemiology of Parasitic Diseases, FMOS-FAPH, ICER Mali-NIAID, University of Sciences, Technique and Technology of Bamako, Bamako, Mali. Electronic address: okd@icermali.org.

PMID: 25820030
DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2015.03.023

Abstract

There are many fundamental aspects of the immunobiology of Plasmodium falciparum infections that are not fully understood, therefore limiting our comprehension of how people become immune to malaria and why some ethnic groups living in malaria endemic areas are less susceptible than others. The complexity of parasite-host interactions and the genetic diversity of the parasites as well as the human host complicate our strategy to address this issue. In this mini-review we discuss and summarize what we have learned about African ethnic differences in susceptibility to malaria from immuno-epidemiological studies. Additionally, we suggest research topics that might be of great value for dissecting the mechanisms of protection by providing new insights into molecular interactions between the parasite and the host.

Keywords: Ethnic; Fulani; Immunity; Malaria; Susceptibility; Sympatric.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Africa, Western / epidemiology
Disease Susceptibility / ethnology*
Epidemiologic Studies
Ethnicity / genetics*
Genetic Variation
Host-Parasite Interactions / genetics*
Humans
Malaria, Falciparum / ethnology*
Malaria, Falciparum / genetics*
Plasmodium falciparum / pathogenicity*