Changing trends in prevalence of different Plasmodium species with dominance of Plasmodium falciparum malaria infection in Aligarh (India)

A micro-epidemiological report on the unstable transmission of malaria in Aligarh, India

India contributes approximately 70% to the malaria burden of Southeast Asia. The transmission of disease in the country is generally hypoendemic, seasonal and unstable. Most researchers focus upon the hyperendemic malarious regions with stable malaria transmission. There is paucity of data regarding malaria transmission in hypoendemic regions, here we are presenting an epidemiological picture of clinical manifestations through a hospital-based survey in Aligarh, India, during 2016-18. Two thousand sixty-eight patients were diagnosed with malaria infection in Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital (JNMCH), out of which 1104 were enrolled for clinical analysis. Ninety per cent of the cases were reported during July-November, and the rest in the dry season. A progressive increase in the prevalence rate was observed during the study period, i.e. 4.8, 7.57 and 8.7% in 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively. Of the total cases, 75.77% had vivax malaria, while rest suffered from falciparum malaria. The risk of disease was significantly higher in the age group 0-15 years compared to all other age groups (p < .0001). The infection rate was higher in males (61%) compared to females (39%) p < .0001. Overall 8.6% of the patients had severe malaria who fulfilled the WHO criteria. The increasing rate of malaria infection during the study period and a considerable no. of severe vivax malaria cases warrant an efficient disease monitoring system, pointing towards the need to carry out micro-epidemiological studies in order to estimate the real burden of malaria in the country.

Comparison of protein patterns between Plasmodium falciparum mutant clone T9/94-M1-1(b3) induced by pyrimethamine and the original parent clone T9/94

OBJECTIVE

To compare the protein patterns from the extracts of the mutant clone T9/94-M1-1(b3) induced by pyrimethamine, and the original parent clone T9/94 following separation of parasite extracts by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE).

METHODS

Proteins were solubilized and separated according to their charges and sizes. The separated protein spots were then detected by silver staining and analyzed for protein density by the powerful image analysis software.

RESULTS

Differentially expressed protein patterns (up- or down-regulation) were separated from the extracts from the two clones. A total of 223 and 134 protein spots were detected from the extracts of T9/94 and T9/94-M1-1(b3) clones, respectively. Marked reduction in density of protein expression was observed with the extract from the mutant (resistant) clone compared with the parent (sensitive) clone. A total of 25 protein spots showed at least two-fold difference in density, some of which exhibited as high as ten-fold difference.

CONCLUSIONS

These proteins may be the molecular targets of resistance of Plasmodium falciparum to pyrimethamine. Further study to identify the chemical structures of these proteins by mass spectrometry is required.