A report on Thalassemia, Red blood cell and Malaria

Peripheral blood film from a person with delta-beta thalassemia
Scanning electron micrograph of human red blood cells (ca. 6–8 μm in diameter)
Malaria parasite connecting to a red blood cell
Left: Hand of a person with severe anemia. Right: Hand of a person without anemia.
There is an immense size variation in vertebrate red blood cells, as well as a correlation between cell and nucleus size. Mammalian red blood cells, which do not contain nuclei, are considerably smaller than those of most other vertebrates.
Main symptoms of malaria
Thalassemia has an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance.
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The life cycle of malaria parasites. Sporozoites are introduced by a mosquito bite. They migrate to the liver, where they multiply into thousands of merozoites. The merozoites infect red blood cells and replicate, infecting more and more red blood cells. Some parasites form gametocytes, which are taken up by a mosquito, continuing the life cycle.
Typical mammalian red blood cells: (a) seen from surface; (b) in profile, forming rouleaux; (c) rendered spherical by water; (d) rendered crenate (shrunken and spiky) by salt. (c) and (d) do not normally occur in the body. The last two shapes are due to water being transported into, and out of, the cells, by osmosis.
Micrograph of a placenta from a stillbirth due to maternal malaria. H&E stain. Red blood cells are anuclear; blue/black staining in bright red structures (red blood cells) indicate foreign nuclei from the parasites.
Scanning electron micrograph of blood cells. From left to right: human red blood cell, thrombocyte (platelet), leukocyte.
Electron micrograph of a Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cell (center), illustrating adhesion protein "knobs"
Two drops of blood are shown with a bright red oxygenated drop on the left and a deoxygenated drop on the right.
The blood film is the gold standard for malaria diagnosis.
Animation of a typical human red blood cell cycle in the circulatory system. This animation occurs at a faster rate (~20 seconds of the average 60-second cycle) and shows the red blood cell deforming as it enters capillaries, as well as the bars changing color as the cell alternates in states of oxygenation along the circulatory system.
Ring-forms and gametocytes of Plasmodium falciparum in human blood
The most common red blood cell membrane lipids, schematically disposed as they are distributed on the bilayer. Relative abundances are not at scale.
An Anopheles stephensi mosquito shortly after obtaining blood from a human (the droplet of blood is expelled as a surplus). This mosquito is a vector of malaria, and mosquito control is an effective way of reducing its incidence.
Red blood cell membrane proteins separated by SDS-PAGE and silverstained
Man spraying kerosene oil in standing water, Panama Canal Zone, 1912
Red blood cell membrane major proteins
Walls where indoor residual spraying of DDT has been applied. The mosquitoes remain on the wall until they fall down dead on the floor.
Affected by Sickle-cell disease, red blood cells alter shape and threaten to damage internal organs.
A mosquito net in use.
Effect of osmotic pressure on blood cells
An advertisement for quinine as a malaria treatment from 1927.
Micrographs of the effects of osmotic pressure
Deaths due to malaria per million persons in 2012
Variations of red blood cell shape, overall termed poikilocytosis.
Past and current malaria prevalence in 2009
Ancient malaria oocysts preserved in Dominican amber
British doctor Ronald Ross received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on malaria.
Chinese medical researcher Tu Youyou received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2015 for her work on the antimalarial drug artemisinin.
Artemisia annua, source of the antimalarial drug artemisinin
U.S. Marines with malaria in a field hospital on Guadalcanal, October 1942
Members of the Malaria Commission of the League of Nations collecting larvae on the Danube delta, 1929
1962 Pakistani postage stamp promoting malaria eradication program
Malaria clinic in Tanzania
Child with malaria in Ethiopia
World War II poster
Disability-adjusted life year for malaria per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004 no data <10 0–100 100–500 500–1000 1000–1500 1500–2000 2000–2500 2500–2750 2750–3000 3000–3250 3250–3500 ≥3500

Often there is mild to severe anemia (low red blood cells or hemoglobin).

- Thalassemia

Those who have minor degrees of thalassemia, similar to those with sickle-cell trait, have some protection against malaria, explaining why they are more common in regions of the world where malaria exists.

- Thalassemia

In the blood, the merozoites rapidly invade individual red blood cells, replicating over 24–72 hours to form 16–32 new merozoites.

- Malaria

Lipid rafts that have been implicated in cell signaling events in nonerythroid cells have been shown in erythroid cells to mediate β2-adregenic receptor signaling and increase cAMP levels, and thus regulating entry of malarial parasites into normal red cells.

- Red blood cell

Premature destruction of thallassemic and sickle red cells has been linked to disruptions of lipid asymmetry leading to exposure of PS on the outer monolayer.

- Red blood cell

Several genetic factors provide some resistance to it including sickle cell trait, thalassaemia traits, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, and the absence of Duffy antigens on red blood cells.

- Malaria
Peripheral blood film from a person with delta-beta thalassemia

3 related topics with Alpha

Overall
Blood smear showing iron-deficiency anemia, with small, pale red blood cells.

Anemia

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Blood smear showing iron-deficiency anemia, with small, pale red blood cells.
Main symptoms that may appear in anemia
The hand of a person with severe anemia (on the left, with ring) compared to one without (on the right)
Figure shows normal red blood cells flowing freely in a blood vessel. The inset image shows a cross-section of a normal red blood cell with normal hemoglobin.
Peripheral blood smear microscopy of a patient with iron-deficiency anemia
A Giemsa-stained blood film from a person with iron-deficiency anemia. This person also had hemoglobin Kenya.

Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin.

Causes of decreased production include iron deficiency, vitamin B12 deficiency, thalassemia and a number of bone marrow tumors.

Causes of increased breakdown include genetic disorders such as sickle cell anemia, infections such as malaria, and certain autoimmune diseases.

Plastic bag with 0.5–0.7 liters containing packed red blood cells in citrate, phosphate, dextrose, and adenine (CPDA) solution

Blood transfusion

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Process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously.

Process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously.

Plastic bag with 0.5–0.7 liters containing packed red blood cells in citrate, phosphate, dextrose, and adenine (CPDA) solution
The patient receives a blood transfusion through the cannula
Canned blood during the blood transfusion process
Illustration depicting intravenous blood transfusion
A bag containing one unit of fresh frozen plasma
Illustration of labeled blood bag
Interpretation of antibody panel to detect patient antibodies towards the most relevant human blood group systems.
Richard Lower pioneered the first blood transfusion from animal to human in 1665 at the Royal Society.
James Blundell successfully transfused human blood in 1818.
William Stewart Halsted, M.D. (1852–1922) performed one of the first blood transfusions in the United States.
Dr. Luis Agote (2nd from right) overseeing one of the first safe and effective blood transfusions in 1914
World War II Russian syringe for direct inter-human blood transfusion
Alexander Bogdanov established a scientific institute to research the effects of blood transfusion in Moscow, 1925.
British poster of 1944 encouraging people to donate blood for the war effort
Wounded soldier being given blood plasma in Sicily, 1943
Charles R. Drew oversaw the production of blood plasma for shipping to Britain during WW2.
As the person receives their blood transfusion, the bag slowly gets emptier, leaving behind blood that has clotted before it could be administered.

Early transfusions used whole blood, but modern medical practice commonly uses only components of the blood, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, clotting factors and platelets.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that all donated blood be tested for transfusion-transmissible infections. These include HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, Treponema pallidum (syphilis) and, where relevant, other infections that pose a risk to the safety of the blood supply, such as Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas disease) and PlasmodiumPlasmodium species (malaria). According to the WHO, 25 countries are not able to screen all donated blood for one or more of: HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or syphilis. One of the main reasons for this is because testing kits are not always available. However the prevalence of transfusion-transmitted infections is much higher in low income countries compared to middle and high income countries.

Exchange (or partial exchange) transfusions are done for removal of bilirubin, removal of antibodies and replacement of red cells (e.g., for anemia secondary to thalassemias and other hemoglobinopathies).

Figure (A) shows normal red blood cells flowing freely through a blood vessel. The inset shows a cross-section of a normal red blood cell with normal haemoglobin. Figure (B) shows abnormal, sickled red blood cells sticking at the branching point in a blood vessel. The inset image shows a cross-section of a sickle cell with long polymerized sickle haemoglobin (HbS) strands stretching and distorting the cell shape to look like a crescent moon.

Sickle cell disease

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Group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents.

Group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents.

Figure (A) shows normal red blood cells flowing freely through a blood vessel. The inset shows a cross-section of a normal red blood cell with normal haemoglobin. Figure (B) shows abnormal, sickled red blood cells sticking at the branching point in a blood vessel. The inset image shows a cross-section of a sickle cell with long polymerized sickle haemoglobin (HbS) strands stretching and distorting the cell shape to look like a crescent moon.
Sickle cell anaemia
Sickle cells in human blood - both normal red blood cells and sickle-shaped cells are present.
Normal blood cells next to a sickle blood cell, coloured scanning electron microscope image
Sickle cell disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern.
Distribution of the sickle cell trait, shown in pink and purple
Historical distribution of malaria (no longer endemic in Europe), shown in green
Modern distribution of malaria
Base-pair substitution that causes sickle cell anemia
HBB gene (responsible for sickle cell anaemia) is located on the short (p) arm of chromosome 11 at position 15.5.
Scanning electron micrograph showing a mixture of red blood cells, some with round normal morphology, some with mild sickling showing elongation and bending
Possible advantage of being heterozygous for sickle cell anemia disease (A) vs. normal blood cell response (B) when infected with malaria
Percentage of newborns screened for sickle cell disease within Metropolitan France from 2006 to 2018
Percentage of newborns screened regionally and overall for sickle cell disease in Metropolitan France in 2018

It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red blood cells.

In 1954, the protective effect against malaria of sickle cell trait was described.

In 2005, Saudi Arabia introduced a mandatory premarital test including HB electrophoresis, which aimed to decrease the incidence of SCD and thalassemia.