Release: NIH study may help explain why iron can worsen malaria infection | NICHD - Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Release: NIH study may help explain why iron can worsen malaria infection | NICHD - Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Release: NIH study may help explain why iron can worsen malaria infection

Researchers identify protective role of iron export protein and its mutation

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Red blood cells infected with malaria parasites (purple).
Image source: Zhang DL, NICHD/NIH

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have a possible explanation for why iron can sometimes worsen malaria infection. By studying mice and samples from malaria patients, the researchers found that extra iron interferes with ferroportin, a protein that prevents a toxic buildup of iron in red blood cells and helps protect these cells against malaria infection. They also found that a mutant form of ferroportin that occurs in African populations appears to protect against malaria. These basic findings, published in Science, may help researchers and healthcare officials develop strategies to prevent and treat malaria infections, which numbered nearly 216 million worldwide in 2016.