Investigation of the intestinal microbiota in patients with malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax

Malaria is an ancient and potentially fatal disease that caused more than 600,000 deaths in 2020 alone. Despite the great efforts to eliminate this parasitic disease in the world, it still constitutes one of the main public health problems. Knowledge about the mechanisms of protection and susceptibility in malaria, as well as in other diseases, is widely investigated through animal models that do not always mimic the pathophysiology of the disease. In the case of malaria caused by P. vivax, there are no reliable rodent models that allow us to elucidate the factors that are important for infection in humans. Therefore, the study of samples from patients is important to unravel specific factors of the P. vivax and humans relationship. In this context, recent studies suggest that the intestinal microbiome, that is, the set of microorganisms that reside in the human gastrointestinal tract, is a critical component of the pathophysiology of malaria. Which microorganisms and the mechanisms by which they operate during malaria are not yet known. To answer such questions, it is necessary to understand which are the microbial communities associated with P. vivax infection and clinical and parasitological characteristics.

Project details

P. vivax

Dec 2022

$132,629

Brazil