Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
5
pubmed:dateCreated
1997-10-29
pubmed:abstractText
It is estimated that over 200 million people each year suffer debilitating attacks of malarial fever, and roughly 2 million of these episodes are fatal. The fever is caused by tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and other pyrogenic cytokines that are released by the host immune system response to products of schizont rupture. TNF has anti-parasitic properties but excessive TNF production is thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria. This review summarizes recent attempts to achieve molecular characterization of the parasite components that stimulate the host TNF response, and to define the host and parasite factors that affect the level of TNF production. Of particular interest are host polymorphisms that may regulate TNF gene expression, and naturally acquired antibodies that prevent the parasite from inducing TNF, both of which correlate with the clinical severity of infection. Our understanding of these processes, which are potentially of considerable therapeutic relevance, remains very limited at both the molecular and the epidemiological level.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jul
pubmed:issn
0003-4983
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
91
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
533-42
pubmed:dateRevised
2009-5-18
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1997
pubmed:articleTitle
The malarial fever response--pathogenesis, polymorphism and prospects for intervention.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Paediatrics, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, U.K. dominic@immsvr.jr2.ox.ac.uk
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review