Decreased Rate of Plasma Arginine Appearance in Murine Malaria May Explain Hypoargininemia in Children With Cerebral Malaria.

ABSTRACT:

Background

 Plasmodium infection depletes arginine, the substrate for nitric oxide synthesis, and impairs endothelium-dependent vasodilation. Increased conversion of arginine to ornithine by parasites or host arginase is a proposed mechanism of arginine depletion.

Methods

 We used high-performance liquid chromatography to measure plasma arginine, ornithine, and citrulline levels in Malawian children with cerebral malaria and in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA with or without the arginase gene. Heavy isotope-labeled tracers measured by quadrupole time-of-flight liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry were used to quantify the in vivo rate of appearance and interconversion of plasma arginine, ornithine, and citrulline in infected mice.

Results

 Children with

SUBMITTER: Alkaitis MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5142086 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature