Modelling pathogen load dynamics to elucidate mechanistic determinants of host-Plasmodium falciparum interactions.

ABSTRACT: During infection, increasing pathogen load stimulates both protective and harmful aspects of the host response. The dynamics of this interaction are hard to quantify in humans, but doing so could improve understanding of the mechanisms of disease and protection. We sought to model the contributions of the parasite multiplication rate and host response to observed parasite load in individual subjects infected with Plasmodium falciparum malaria, using only data obtained at the time of clinical presentation, and then to identify their mechanistic correlates. We predicted higher parasite multiplication rates and lower host responsiveness in cases of severe malaria, with severe anaemia being more insidious than cerebral malaria. We predicted that parasite-growth inhibition was associated with p

SUBMITTER: Georgiadou A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6708439 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature