Obesity protects against severe malaria

Obesity hinders the development of a deadly form of cerebral malaria. This conclusion French scientists led by Robert Vincent (Vincent Robert) conducted experiments on mice. The experiments involved 14 animals, obese, and 14 - with normal weight. Obesity in animals is a mutation of the gene that "hormone saturated" the connected leptin. All mice were single injection of sporozoites (spore forms of malaria) Plasmodium berghei, which. Development of malaria in mice According to scientists, all laboratory rodents with malaria. Six days after infection, 8 out of 14 mice died of normal weight of a severe form of cerebral malaria (brain damage with the development of a coma). At the same time, none of the animals, obesity, symptoms of cerebral malaria were identified, the researchers reported. According to them, mice in this group died from severe anemia at 18-25 days after infection. The mechanism of the protective role of obesity in the malaria has not been demonstrated. It is assumed that a certain value may have decreased hormone levels leptin, involved in the regulation of hematopoiesis, or a high percentage of fatty acids in the blood (hyperlipidemia). Additionally protection against cerebral form of malaria with elevated levels of glucose in the blood of animals, which are associated to obesity. High blood sugar can make up. Its deficit (hypoglycemia), which often do serious and complicated forms of malaria, the researchers Human cerebral malaria, the most common and severe complication of malaria is caused by Plasmodium falciparum. New data can be useful in the study of this form of the disease and development of drugs, scientists say. A full report on the study was published in the Malaria Journal.