Epistasis between the haptoglobin common variant and α+thalassemia influences risk of severe malaria in Kenyan children

Journal article

Haptoglobin (Hp) scavenges free hemoglobin following malaria-induced hemolysis. Few studies have investigated the relationship between the common Hp variants and the risk of severe malaria, and their results are inconclusive. We conducted a case-control study of 996 children with severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria and 1220 community controls and genotyped for Hp, hemoglobin (Hb) S heterozygotes, and α(+)thalassemia. Hb S heterozygotes and α(+)thalassemia homozygotes were protected from seve...

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Authors: Atkinson, S; Uyoga, S; Nyatichi, E; Macharia, A; Nyutu, G

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Society of Hematology
• Journal: Blood
• Volume: 123
• Issue: 13
• Pages: 2008-2016
• Publication date: 2014-03-27
• Acceptance date: 2014-01-21
• DOI: 10.1182/blood-2013-10-533489
• EISSN: 1528-0020
• ISSN: 0006-4971
• Pmid: 24478401
• Language: English
• Keywords: alpha-Thalassemia; Female; Haptoglobins; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Infant; Malaria, Falciparum; Male; Epistasis, Genetic; SBTMR; Severity of Illness Index; Infant, Newborn; Genotype; Child, Preschool; research-article; Meta-Analysis as Topic; Risk Factors; Journal Article; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Child; Humans; Kenya; Case-Control Studies