Gene expression signature and phenotypic variables of plasmodium falciparum infected adults in Sagbama, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
| dc.contributor.author | Ogbole, Faith Ajiebabhio | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-10-06T11:05:09Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-10-06T11:05:09Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023-10-18 | |
| dc.description | This thesis is for the award of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Medical Biochemistry | |
| dc.description.abstract | Malaria is an acute inflammatory disease that requires continuous monitoring and surveillance in high risk areas. Although several molecular methods are available for the detection of submicroscopic malaria, however the most sensitive molecular method has not been established. Also, given the emergence of antimalarial drug resistance by Plasmodium, an alternative strategy to antimalarial drug design is needed. A knowledge of the biochemical and molecular adaptation dynamics of residents in high risk areas might provide novel targets for antimalarial drug design. The objectives of the present study were to determine the prevalence of malaria parasite infection among adults in Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State, Nigeria using two molecular methods, evaluate the pattern of distribution of ABO/Rhesus blood groups and haemoglobin genotypes in relation to malaria, and evaluate the inflammatory role of haemoglobin genotypes and ABO/Rhesusblood group in relation to malaria in Sagbama LGA. A cross sectional community based study design was used to randomly collect 206 blood samples from the study participants. Study participants were grouped into three; uninfected, asymptomatic, mild and severe malaria group. Each group was further stratified based on ABO/Rhesus blood group and haemoglobin genotype. Nested-genomic-PCR and high resolution melting analysis (HRMA) were used to determine the prevalence of malaria parasite infection by using a set of primers to target the 18S rRNA gene of Plasmodium falciparum and results were compared with microscopy. Haemoglobin (Hb) genotypetest, blood group test as well as real time PCR gene expression of inflammatory genes were carried out. Overall, 43.20% males and 56.80% females with mean age 39 ± 6.65 years participated in the study. The prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum infection among adults was 92.72% (asymptomatic; 63.62%, mild; 18.93%, severe; 10.19%). HRMA was the most sensitive molecular method. Microscopy and nested-genomic PCR yielded 58.25% and 19.9% false negatives respectively. Pair-wise performance comparison of the diagnostic methods was significant (p < 0.001). High parasitemia (19005 ± 7345 Parasites/ⴗl of blood) was found among asymptomatic subjects yet they were not clinically ill. Blood group O was the most common ABO blood group (54.85%) and 96.6% of the study population were Rhesus positive, while 80.1% had haemoglobin genotype AA. Blood groups A, B, AB and O were all associated with symptomatic malaria (P < 0.05), blood groups A, B and AB were associated with mild malaria (P < 0.05), while only blood group B was associated with severe malaria (p < 0.05). Both Hb AA and AS were associated with asymptomatic malaria (P < 0.05), while only Hb AA was associated with mild and severe malaria (p < 0.05). A significant upregulation in the gene expression of proinflammatory TNFα and IFNγ was found among blood group A, B and AB and Hb AA subjects compared with blood group O and Hb AS subjects (p < 0.001). This was accompanied by a downregulation in the gene expression of anti-inflammatory IL-10 among blood group A, B and AB and Hb AA malaria subjects compared with blood group O malaria subjects (p < value 0.001). In conclusion, the present study found a high prevalence of malaria parasite infection (92.72%) in Sagbama LGA using HRMA. It also found that the mechanism by which ABO blood groups and haemoglobin genotypes influence malaria is by differential expression of inflammatory genes. Findings may have implication for theidentification of novel target for antimalarial drug development. However, further large scale study is suggested. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Ogbole, F. A. (2023). Gene expression signature and phenotypic variables of plasmodium falciparum infected adults in Sagbama, Bayelsa State, Nigeria [Unpublished Doctoral Thesis]. Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://repository.futo.edu.ng/handle/20.500.14562/2839 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | Federal University of Technology, Owerri | |
| dc.rights | Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | HRM-analysis | |
| dc.subject | malaria | |
| dc.subject | nested-genomic-PCR | |
| dc.subject | ABO/Rhesus | |
| dc.subject | genotypes | |
| dc.subject | TNFα | |
| dc.subject | IFNγ | |
| dc.subject | IL-10 | |
| dc.subject | Department of Biochemistry | |
| dc.title | Gene expression signature and phenotypic variables of plasmodium falciparum infected adults in Sagbama, Bayelsa State, Nigeria | |
| dc.type | Doctoral Thesis |