Research
Malaria and obesity: obese mice are resistant to cerebral malaria
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* Corresponding author: Vincent Robert v.robert@mnhn.fr
1 Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Unité de Recherche 77 and Unité de Recherche 16, 213 rue La Fayette, 75480 Paris cedex 10, France
2 Unité Scientifique du Muséum 504, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 61 rue Buffon, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France
3 Centre de Production et d'Infection des Anopheles, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France
Malaria Journal 2008, 7:81 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-7-81
Published: 19 May 2008Abstract
Background
The relationship between malaria and obesity are largely unknown. This is partly due to the fact that malaria occurs mainly in tropical areas where, until recently, obesity was not prevalent. It now appears, however, that obesity is emerging as a problem in developing countries. To investigate the possible role of obesity on the host-parasite response to malarial infection, this study applied a murine model, which uses the existence of genetically well characterized obese mice.
Methods
The receptivity of obese homozygous ob/ob mice was compared to the receptivity of control heterozygous ob/+ lean mice after a single injection of Plasmodium berghei ANKA sporozoites. Both parasitaemia and mortality in response to infection were recorded.
Results
The control mice developed the expected rapid neurological syndromes associated with the ANKA strain, leading to death after six days, in absence of high parasitaemia. The obese mice, on the other hand, did not develop cerebral malaria and responded with increasing parasitaemia, which produced severe anemia leading to death 18–25 days after injection.
Conclusion
The observed major differences in outward symptoms for malarial infection in obese versus control mice indicate a link between obesity and resistance to the infection which could be addressed by malariologists studying human malaria.