Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Elucidating the genetic diversity of the Duffy Binding Protein II (PvDBPII), a leading vaccine candidate for vivax malaria, in different geographical settings is vital. In Sri Lanka malaria transmission is unstable with low intensity. A relatively high level of allelic diversity, with 27 polymorphic nucleotides and 33 (aa) haplotypes was detected among the PvdbpII gene in 100 local Plasmodium vivax isolates collected from two hypoendemic areas, and from a non endemic area of the country. Mutations, recombination and balancing selection seem to maintain the observed local allelic diversity of PvdbpII. Lack of gene flow was evidenced by high Fst values between the two endemic study sites. Some of the aa polymorphisms may alter the binding and expression capacity of predicted T cell epitopes in PvDBPII. Of the 8 binding inhibitory linear B cell epitopes, 2 (H2 and M1) in the vicinity of the exact binding region of PvDBPII appeared to be highly conserved in Sri Lankan, Iran and Colombian isolates, while H3, M2, M3 and L3 neutralizing epitopes seem to be polymorphic globally, with H1 and L2 conserved in Colombian, South Korean and Iran isolates. In comparison to the reference Sal-1 strain, among 402 world-wide isolates (302 global and 100 local), 121 aa polymorphisms and 138 haplotypes were recorded of which 3 aa polymorphisms and 21 haplotypes seem to be unique to Sri Lanka. PvdbpII phylogeny suggests that local P. vivax parasites represent a sample of the global population. The ubiquitous presence of some PvDBPII aa haplotypes among both local and global P. vivax isolates may aid future vaccination strategies based on PvDBPII.
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PMID:Genetic diversity of Plasmodium vivax Duffy Binding Protein II (PvDBPII) under unstable transmission and low intensity malaria in Sri Lanka. 2155 98

Malaria has been for millennia one of the best known and most destructive diseases affecting humans. Its high impact has aroused great interest for the development of new effective and reliable diagnostic techniques. Recently it has been recently published that hairs from mammal hosts are able to capture, hold and finally remove foreign DNA sequences of Leishmania parasites. The aim of this study was to check if Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) DNA remains stable in blood samples deposited in Whatman paper after suffering different transport and storage conditions, and to compare the sensitivity of these results with those offered by thick a smear and Rapid Diagnostic Test, and besides to examine whether P. falciparum DNA would be detected and quantified by Real time quantitative PCR (qPCR) from hairs of people with different types of malaria. P. falciparum Histidine Repeat Protein II (pHRP-II) antigen detection and P. falciparum DNA were detected in 18 of 19 dry blood samples adhered to Whatman paper (94.74%), besides, Plasmodium DNA was also detected in seven out of 19 hair samples analyzed (36.84%), remaining stable until analysis for several months under the exposure to different environmental conditions. Although the sensitivity of PCR for the diagnosis of malaria in hair samples is not as high as blood analysis, the study of Plasmodium DNA presence in blood and hair could constitute a complementary tool with numerous advantages in sample collection, transport and storage. We suggest that the method could be also applied to medical, forensic and paleo-parasitological diagnosis, not only for malaria but also for searching many other pathogens in hair samples.
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PMID:Method for Malaria Diagnosis Based on Extractions of Samples Using Non-Invasive Techniques: An Opportunity for the Nursing Clinical Practice. 3275 15