NYUAD study offers new insight into one of the mysteries of natural immunity to malaria

Researchers compared metabolic responses to human malaria in children of different populations

2021-06-10

(Press-News.org) Fast Facts:

- In 2019, 409,000 people died of malaria--most were young children in sub-Saharan Africa. - The annual economic costs of malaria to Africa alone amount to USD 12 billion. - Through extensive fieldwork and close follow-up of the children in rural areas of Burkina Faso, the new study has led to the discovery of a molecular mechanism that alters the immune response to infection.

Abu Dhabi, UAE - June 10, 2021: In the first and largest global metabolomic study of African children before and after malaria infection, NYU Abu Dhabi Assistant Professor of Biology Youssef Idaghdour and his colleagues at the Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme in Burkina Faso have advanced the understanding of the molecular mechanisms in play during human malaria and demonstrated how studying ethnic differences in metabolic responses to the infection can help explain the sources of susceptibility and resistance in this deadly disease.

The study, END

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