Low plasma arginine concentrations in children with cerebral malaria and decreased nitric oxide production.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
Nitric oxide (NO) production and mononuclear cell NO synthase 2 (NOS2) expression are high in healthy Tanzanian children but low in those with cerebral malaria. Factors that downregulate NOS2 also diminish factors involved in cellular uptake and biosynthesis of L-arginine, the substrate for NO synthesis. We therefore postulated that L-arginine concentrations would be low in individuals with cerebral malaria. We measured concentrations of L-arginine in cryopreserved plasma samples from Tanzanian children with and without malaria. L-arginine concentrations were low in individuals with cerebral malaria (mean 46 micromol/L, SD 14), intermediate in those with uncomplicated malaria (70 micromol/L, 20), and within the normal range in healthy controls (122 micromol/L, 22; p<0.0001). Analysis by logistic regression showed that hypoargininaemia was significantly associated with cerebral malaria case-fatality. Hypoargininaemia may contribute to limited NO production in children with cerebral malaria and to severe disease.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Lopansri, BK; Anstey, NM; Weinberg, JB; Stoddard, GJ; Hobbs, MR; Levesque, MC; Mwaikambo, ED; Granger, DL
Published Date
- February 22, 2003
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 361 / 9358
Start / End Page
- 676 - 678
PubMed ID
- 12606182
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0140-6736
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12564-0
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- England