A report on Malaria and Spleen

Malaria parasite connecting to a red blood cell

The human spleen is located in the upper left abdomen, behind the stomach

A 3D medical animation still of spleen structure & exact location

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.

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.

Micrograph of splenic tissue showing the red pulp (red), white pulp (blue) and a thickened inflamed capusule (mostly pink – top of image). H&E stain.

Electron micrograph of a Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cell (center), illustrating adhesion protein "knobs"

The spleen contains two different tissues, white pulp (A) and red pulp (B). The white pulp functions in producing and growing immune and blood cells. The red pulp functions in filtering blood of antigens, microorganisms, and defective or worn-out red blood cells.

The blood film is the gold standard for malaria diagnosis.

Thalassemia enlarged spleen taken after splenectomy

Ring-forms and gametocytes of Plasmodium falciparum in human blood

Laparoscopic view of a horse's spleen (the purple and grey mottled organ)

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.

Spleen seen on abdominal ultrasonography

Man spraying kerosene oil in standing water, Panama Canal Zone, 1912

Maximum length of spleen on abdominal ultrasonography

Walls where indoor residual spraying of DDT has been applied. The mosquitoes remain on the wall until they fall down dead on the floor.

Back of lumbar region, showing surface markings for kidneys, ureters, and spleen

Side of thorax, showing surface markings for bones, lungs (purple), pleura (blue), and spleen (green)

An advertisement for quinine as a malaria treatment from 1927.

Transverse section of the spleen, showing the trabecular tissue and the splenic vein and its tributaries

Deaths due to malaria per million persons in 2012

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

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

It may be caused by sickle cell anemia, sarcoidosis, malaria, bacterial endocarditis, leukemia, polycythemia vera, pernicious anemia, Gaucher's disease, leishmaniasis, Hodgkin's disease, Banti's disease, hereditary spherocytosis, cysts, glandular fever (mononucleosis or 'Mono' caused by the Epstein–Barr virus, infection from cytomegalovirus), and tumours.

- Spleen

However, circulating infected blood cells are destroyed in the spleen.

- Malaria

4 related topics with Alpha

Red blood cell

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Red blood cells (RBCs), also referred to as red cells, red blood corpuscles (in humans or other animals not having nucleus in red blood cells), haematids, erythroid cells or erythrocytes (from Greek erythros for "red" and kytos for "hollow vessel", with -cyte translated as "cell" in modern usage), are the most common type of blood cell and the vertebrate's principal means of delivering oxygen (O2) to the body tissues—via blood flow through the circulatory system.

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.

Scanning electron micrograph of blood cells. From left to right: human red blood cell, thrombocyte (platelet), leukocyte.

Two drops of blood are shown with a bright red oxygenated drop on the left and a deoxygenated drop on the right.

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.

The most common red blood cell membrane lipids, schematically disposed as they are distributed on the bilayer. Relative abundances are not at scale.

Red blood cell membrane proteins separated by SDS-PAGE and silverstained

Affected by Sickle-cell disease, red blood cells alter shape and threaten to damage internal organs.

Effect of osmotic pressure on blood cells

Micrographs of the effects of osmotic pressure

Variations of red blood cell shape, overall termed poikilocytosis.

The spleen acts as a reservoir of red blood cells, but this effect is somewhat limited in humans.

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.

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.

Hemolytic anemia

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Form of anemia due to hemolysis, the abnormal breakdown of red blood cells , either in the blood vessels (intravascular hemolysis) or elsewhere in the human body (extravascular).

Acquired hemolytic anemia is also encountered in burns and as a result of certain infections (e.g. malaria).

Extravascular hemolysis refers to hemolysis taking place in the liver, spleen, bone marrow, and lymph nodes.

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.

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

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

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

The spleen is frequently affected in sickle cell disease, as the sickle-shaped red blood cells cause narrowing of blood vessels and reduced function in clearing the defective cells.

Splenomegaly

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Maximum dimension of the spleen on abdominal ultrasonography.

Splenomegaly is an enlargement of the spleen.

malaria