| dc.description.abstract | Background: It has been hypothesized that the African alleles Sl2 and McCb of the Swain-Langley
(Sl) and McCoy (McC) blood group antigens of the complement receptor 1 (CR1) may confer a
survival advantage in the setting of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, but this has not been
demonstrated.
Methods: To test this hypothesis, children in western Kenya with severe malaria-associated
anaemia or cerebral malaria were matched to symptomatic uncomplicated malaria controls by age
and gender. Swain-Langley and McCoy blood group alleles were determined by restriction fragment
length polymorphism and conditional logistic regression was carried out.
Results: No significant association was found between the African alleles and severe malariaassociated anaemia. However, children with Sl2/2 genotype were less likely to have cerebral malaria
(OR = 0.17, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.72, P = 0.02) than children with Sl1/1. In particular, individuals with
Sl2/2 McCa/b genotype were less likely to have cerebral malaria (OR = 0.18, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.77, P
= 0.02) than individuals with Sl1/1 McCa/a.
Conclusion: These results support the hypothesis that the Sl2 allele and, possibly, the McCb allele
evolved in the context of malaria transmission and that in certain combinations probably confer a
survival advantage on these populations. | en_US |
