The mechanisms behind neuromalaria

Neuromalaria is the most lethal complication of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, with associated infant mortality ranging from 15 to 25%. In this study, researchers performed an unbiased proteomic evaluation of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes and plasma samples from 24 children in Benin. Significant down-regulation of ubiquitin-proteasome pathway proteins and up-regulation of transferrin receptor protein 1 were found in infected erythrocytes from patients with neuromalaria. The host plasma proteome could serve as a specific signature for the development of neuromalaria, enabling the development of new diagnostic and prognostic markers.