Vivax malaria in Mauritania includes infection of a Duffy-negative individual
Abstract Background Duffy blood group polymorphisms are important in areas where Plasmodium vivax is present because this surface antigen is thought to act as a key receptor for this parasite. In the present study, Duffy blood group genotyping was performed in febrile uninfected and P. vivax -infect...
Published in: | Malaria Journal |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
BMC
2011
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-10-336 https://doaj.org/article/9cec156698b243bdb30235606d1c0764 |
Summary: | Abstract Background Duffy blood group polymorphisms are important in areas where Plasmodium vivax is present because this surface antigen is thought to act as a key receptor for this parasite. In the present study, Duffy blood group genotyping was performed in febrile uninfected and P. vivax -infected patients living in the city of Nouakchott, Mauritania. Methods Plasmodium vivax was identified by real-time PCR. The Duffy blood group genotypes were determined by standard PCR followed by sequencing of the promoter region and exon 2 of the Duffy gene in 277 febrile individuals. Fisher's exact test was performed in order to assess the significance of variables. Results In the Moorish population, a high frequency of the FYB ES /FYB ES genotype was observed in uninfected individuals (27.8%), whereas no P. vivax -infected patient had this genotype. This was followed by a high level of FYA/FYB , FYB/FYB , FYB/FYB ES and FYA/FYB ES genotype frequencies, both in the P. vivax -infected and uninfected patients. In other ethnic groups (Poular, Soninke, Wolof), only the FYB ES /FYB ES genotype was found in uninfected patients, whereas the FYA/FYB ES genotype was observed in two P. vivax -infected patients. In addition, one patient belonging to the Wolof ethnic group presented the FYB ES /FYB ES genotype and was infected by P. vivax . Conclusions This study presents the Duffy blood group polymorphisms in Nouakchott City and demonstrates that in Mauritania, P. vivax is able to infect Duffy-negative patients. Further studies are necessary to identify the process that enables this Duffy-independent P. vivax invasion of human red blood cells. |
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