Prevalence of malaria and quantification of cytokine levels during infection in East Nile locality, Khartoum State
Abstract
Background: The cytokines interferon gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin-10
(IL-10) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF- α) play an important role in
malaria infection. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of
malaria and to evaluate cytokine responses to malaria infection in patients
from the East Nile locality of Khartoum State.
Methods: This study was carried out from May to July 2018 in the East Nile
Locality, Khartoum State. Blood samples were collected from 384 randomly
selected patients for blood film analysis. Of these, 39 were selected for
cytokine level analysis (10 control and 29 patient samples), determined
using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.
Results: The malaria prevalence rate among 384 patients was 18.5%.
Plasmodium falciparum was the most prevalent (13%), while the
prevalence of Plasmodium vivax was 4.6%. The rate of mixed infection was
0.8%. There was a higher prevalence rate (22.7%) in males than females
(15.6%). However, we found no significant correlation between cytokine
levels and parasitemia in the study group. Nevertheless, our study
demonstrated a significant correlation between cytokine levels and
recurrent infections.
Conclusions: Together, our data show that malaria remains a public health
problem in East Nile locality with a high prevalence. Additionally, cytokine
levels were found to be correlated with recurrent malaria infection.