(− 7402 T/G and-4729G/A) condition susceptibility to pediatric severe malarial anemia but not circulating IL-13 levels

Abstract

In holoendemic Plasmodium falciparum transmission areas such as western Kenya, severe malarial anemia [SMA, hemoglobin (Hb)< 6.0 g/dL, with any density parasitemia] is the most common clinical manifestation of severe malaria resulting in high rates of pediatric morbidity and mortality in these regions. Previous studies associated interleukin (IL)-13 with pathogenesis of different infectious diseases, including P. falciparum malaria. However, the functional roles of polymorphic variants within the IL-13 promoter in conditioning susceptibility to SMA remain largely unexplored. As such, the association between the IL-13 variants-7402 T/G (rs7719175) and-4729G/A (rs3091307) and susceptibility to SMA was determined in children (n= 387) presenting with clinical symptoms of falciparum malaria and resident in a holoendemic transmission region in western Kenya. Our results indicated no …