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The eosinophilic response and haematological recovery after treatment for Plasmodium falciparum malaria
Author(s) -
Camacho Luis H.,
Wilairatana Polarat,
Weiss Günter,
Mercader Marco A.,
Brittenham Gary M.,
Looareesuwan Sornchai,
Gordeuk Victor R.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-3156.1999.00426.x
Subject(s) - malaria , eosinophil , immunology , medicine , eosinophilia , plasmodium falciparum , immune system , peripheral blood , gastroenterology , asthma
Summary To examine a possible relationship between the immune response and haematological recovery after acute falciparum malaria, we followed peripheral blood eosinophil counts and haemoglobin concentrations for 4 weeks after starting effective treatment in 70 adult Thai patients. Eosinophils are induced by Th‐2 cytokines as well as other stimuli. Eosinophil counts were elevated in only 8 (11%) of the subjects at presentation, but were increased in 65 (93%) by day 7. Eosinophil counts then decreased markedly by day 14, followed by a second increase until day 28. A significant positive correlation was found between peak eosinophil counts on day 7 and the haemoglobin concentration on day 28, both in 16 subjects without stool parasites ( r = 0.65, P = 0.006) and in 54 patients with stool parasites ( r = 0.32; P = 0.0019). These results suggest that a robust eosinophilic response shortly after completing antimalarial therapy predicts a good recovery from malaria‐associated anaemia.