Circulating microRNAs in malaria infection: bench to bedside

• Published in: Malaria Journal
• Main Authors: Supat Chamnanchanunt, Suthat Fucharoen, Tsukuru Umemura
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2017
• Subjects: Severe malaria; Plasmodium infection; MicroRNA (miRNA); Biomarker; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-017-1990-x; https://doaj.org/article/83c4a5de230c438b80965c77a6923b88

Abstract Severe malaria has a poor prognosis with a morbidity rate of 80% in tropical areas. The early parasite detection is one of the effective means to prevent severe malaria of which specific treatment strategies are limited. Many clinical characteristics and laboratory testings have been used for the early diagnosis and prediction of severe disease. However, a few of these factors could be applied to clinical practice. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) were demonstrated as useful biomarkers in many diseases such as malignant diseases and cardiovascular diseases. Recently it was found that plasma miR-451 and miR-16 were downregulated in malaria infection at parasitic stages or with multi-organ failure involvement. MiR-125b, -27a, -23a, -150, 17–92 and -24 are deregulated in malaria patients with multiple organ failures. Here, the current findings of miRNAs were reviewed in relation to clinical severity of malaria infection and emphasized that miRNAs are potential biomarkers for severe malaria infection.