Malaria linked to genetic changes associated with aging: Study | Health news

According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2023 malaria report published in the journal The Lancet Microbe, about 70 percent of the global burden of the mosquito-borne disease is concentrated in 11 countries, including India and 10 African countries.

Malaria infection is linked to genetic changes known to be caused by aging, according to a new study. (Image: Freepik)

New Delhi: Malaria infection is linked to genetic changes known to be caused by aging, according to a new study.

Researchers extracted genetic material from blood samples of more than 1,800 adults from the African countries of Tanzania, Botswana, Ethiopia and Cameroon, where malaria is known to be endemic or persistent.

According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2023 malaria report published in the journal The Lancet Microbe, about 70 percent of the global burden of the mosquito-borne disease is concentrated in 11 countries, including India and 10 African countries.

The team, including researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, US, analyzed the DNA in white blood cells – crucial for immunity and fighting infections – and measured the length of the telomeres at the ends of chromosomes, which carry the genes.

Telomeres protect the ends of the chromosome from sticking together or fraying. They are known to shorten with age and can also help predict an individual’s risk of being affected by age-related diseases and death.

“We highlight the contributions of genetic and environmental factors that influence telomere length in leukocytes (white blood cells), and we have uncovered a potential role of malaria in shortening telomere length in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Sarah Tishkoff of the University of Pennsylvania. , a co-senior author of the study published in The American Journal of Human Genetics.

The researchers found shorter telomere lengths in the white blood cells of adults native to regions where malaria is highly endemic, compared with those in adults native to regions with low malaria endemicity.

Malaria infection is known to cause massive destruction of white blood cells. The authors said that this process, coupled with making new cells to repair this loss, could be a possible mechanism by which the disease shortens telomere length.

They also found that the degree to which malaria was endemic in a region had a greater impact on telomere length, compared to previously identified environmental factors known to influence telomere length.

“This association between malaria and white blood cell telomere length appears to be greater than any other known exposure or behavior examined in large-scale studies,” says Tishkoff.

Although previous studies have suggested a link between malaria infection and telomere shortening, the researchers said it remained unknown whether repeated infections throughout life could have a lasting effect on telomere lengths in people living in malaria-endemic areas.

The authors also said that a longitudinal (long-term) study of children and adults native to regions of high and low malaria endemicity would provide more insightful information.