Biochemical approaches to research in malaria

The malarial impact on the nutritional status of Amazonian adult subjects

The anthropometric (body weight, height, upper arm circumference, triceps and subescapular skinfolds; Quetelet index and arm muscle circumference) and blood biochemistry (proteins and lipids) parameters were evaluated in 93 males and 27 females, 17-72 years old voluntaries living in the malarial endemic area of Humaita city (southwest Amazon). According to their malarial history they were assembled in four different groups: G1--controls without malarial history (n:30); G2--controls with malarial history but without actual manifestation of the disease (n:40); G3--patients with Plasmodium vivax (n:19) and G4--patients with Plasmodium falciparum (n:31). The malarial status was stablished by clinical and laboratory findings. The overall data of anthropometry and blood biochemistry discriminated the groups differently. The anthropometric data were low sensitive and contrasted only the two extremes (G1 > G4) whereas the biochemistry differentiated two big groups, the healthy (G1 + G2) and the patients (G3 + G4). The nutritional status of the P. falciparum patients was highly depressed for most of the studied indices but none was sensitive enough to differentiate this group from the P. vivax group (G3). On the other hand the two healthy groups could be differentiated through the levels of ceruloplasmin (G1 < G2) and alpha nitrogen (G1 > G2). Thus it seems that the malaria-malnourishment state exists and the results could be framed either as a consequence of nutrient sink and/or the infection stress both motivated by the parasite.