Is human malarial coma caused, or merely deepened, by sequestration?

Date

2009

Authors

Clark, Ian A
Alleva, Lisa

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Elsevier

Abstract

Much research into falciparum malaria coma assumes the primary event to be vascular obstruction by parasitized red blood cells. Recent evidence that vivax malaria, caused by a parasite traditionally thought not to block blood flow, seems to alter brain function to the same degree as falciparum malaria has seriously questioned this. These data are a timely call to reassess whether vascular obstruction should still be considered the primary cause of the coma of falciparum disease. They add to a growing literature that suggests that enhancement of brain-origin cytokines, such as tumour necrosis factor, by non-brain systemic inflammation and an appreciation of the degree to which neuronal homeostasis depends on them provide a more fruitful research direction.

Description

Keywords

Keywords: angiopoietin 2; cytokine; etanercept; tumor necrosis factor; tumor necrosis factor antibody; Alzheimer disease; article; brain blood flow; cerebrospinal fluid; clinical trial; coma; erythrocyte; human; India; inflammation; malaria falciparum; malarial com

Citation

Source

Trends in Parasitology

Type

Journal article

Book Title

Entity type

Access Statement

License Rights

Restricted until

2037-12-31