A study led by Gulbenkian shows that the kidneys play a key role in storing and redistributing iron in the body during a malaria infection, which may be crucial to disease outcomes.
A new scientific discovery made by researchers at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) revealed that the kidneys play a key role in the fight against malaria, being a decisive factor for the survival of infected patients. According to the specialists, the organ is responsible for storing and redistributing iron in the body, which prevents the body from succumbing to the invading parasite.
These conclusions come from a study of 400 patients with malaria at Josina Machel Hospital in Angola, a country where the main cause of death is malaria. The results indicate that, when occurring simultaneously, acute renal failure and anemia considerably increase the risk of a patient’s death.
Published in the journal Cell Reports, the research has important implications for the prognosis of infected patients and the development of more effective and personalized targeted therapies, which may eventually put a brake on the number of malaria deaths.
The study resulted from a collaboration with Euclides Sacomboio, an Angolan researcher who joined the Inflammation group at IGC through the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation‘s “ENVOLVE Ciência PALOP” program. The study was conducted in collaboration with the Instituto de Ciências de Saúde, in Angola, the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria, the Paris Cardiovascular Center (PARCC), in France, and The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, in China.
The work of the Gulbenkian researchers was funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), the Oeiras-ERC Frontier Research Incentive Awards, the La Caixa Foundation and supported by the “ENVOLVE Ciência PALOP” program. These findings may be an important milestone in the fight against malaria, especially in countries where the disease is a major cause of death, which is the case in Angola.
