Tübingen physicians discover further innate protection against malaria
Tübingen doctors have discovered a new mutation that protects against malaria. The discovery was made at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Lambarene, the capital of the central African state of Gabon. The mutation is common among Africans, but is extremely rare in local latitudes, according to the medical journal The Lancet. "We have found a new mutation in control gene number two for nitric oxide synthase," explained Professor Peter Kremsner from the Tübingen Institute for Tropical Medicine. He leads the research group in Lambarene. The experts assume that the synthetic protein is very important for the immediate defense against the malaria parasite. The causative agents of fever are transmitted to humans by mosquitoes and destroy their red blood cells. Kremsner and his colleagues assume that a correspondingly mutated control gene number two strongly inhibits the reproduction of the parasite. Although its carriers contract malaria, the disease runs more easily with them. In addition, the risk of infection is lower for them. In many infections, the body first fights the pathogens with an increased level of nitrogen monoxide in the blood. Malaria attacks also go better when the nitric oxide level in the blood is high. However, the specific consequences of the mutation of control gene number two are not yet known. The researchers found the mutation in a third of their Gabonese patients, but not at all in a German comparison group. Kremsner: This indicates that malaria exerted a selection pressure that such a mutation could arise and also persist. © DeutschlandRadio
