Summary
An analysis of erythroblast cell kinetics utilizing quantitative 14C-autoradiography has been performed in five cases of acute Plasmodium falciparum malaria prior to and, in four patients, 3 or 6 days after the onset of antimalarial therapy. Associated with no or only moderate anemia were changes of erythroblast morphology, a considerable shift in the frequency of red and white blood cell precursors in the bone marrow, and a reduced rate of erythroblast proliferation. There was a marked loss of polychromatic erythroblasts, which was smaller but still detectable during the therapeutic phase. The results provide some quantitative data on the extent of “parenchymal damage” of bone marrow and stress the impact of ineffective erythropoiesis and reduced rate of erythropoietic proliferation on the emergence of anemia in Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdalla S, Weatherall DJ, Wickramasinghe SN, Hughes M (1980) The anaemia of P. falciparum malaria. Br J Haematol 46: 173–183
Areekul S (1972) Theoretical consideration on the haemolysis of parasitized and non-parasitized red cells in malaria. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 3: 452–453
Balcerzak SP, Arnold JD, Martin DC (1972) Anatomy of red cell damage by Plasmodium falciparum in man. Blood 40: 98–104
Conrad ME (1969) Pathophysiology of malaria, hematologic observations in human and animal studies. Ann Intern Med 70: 134–141
Conrad ME (1971) Hematologic manifestations of parasitic infections. Semin Hematol 8: 267–303
Dörmer P (1973) Kinetics of erythropoietic cell proliferation in normal and anemic man. A new approach using quantitative 14C-autoradiography. Prog Histochem Cytochem 6: 1–83
Dörmer P, Betke K (1978) Erythroblast kinetics in homozygous and heterozygous beta-thalassaemia. Br J Haematol 38: 5–14
Dörmer P, Kiehn U, Kern P, Dietrich M (1979) Bone marrow cell kinetics in acute and chronic infections. Proceedings of the 5th meeting of the International Society of Haematology, European-African Division, Hamburg, vol 3: 34 (Abstract)
Dörmer P, Lau B, Wilmanns W (1980) Kinetics of bone marrow cell production in human acute and chronic myeloid leukemias. Leuk Res 4: 231–237
Facer C, Bray RS, Brown J (1979) Direct Coombs antiglobin reaction in Gambian children with plasmodium falciparum malaria. I. Incidence and class specificity. Clin Exp Immunol 35: 119–127
Fleming AF (1981) Haematological manifestations of malaria and other parasitic diseases. Clin Haematol 10: 983–1011
Folayan Esan GJ (1975) Haematological aspects of malaria. Clin in Haematol 4: 247–256
George JN, Stokes EF, Wicker DJ, Conrad ME (1966) Studies on the mechanism of hemolysis in experimental malaria. Mil Med [Suppl] 131: 1217–1224
Greenwood BM, Stratton D, Williamson WA, Mohamed I (1978) A study of the role of immunological factors in the pathogenesis of the anaemia of acute malaria. Trans Soc Trop Med Hyg 72: 378–385
Hendrickse RG, King MAR (1958) Anaemia of uncertain origin in infancy. Brit Med J II: 662–669
Knüttgen HJ (1963) Das menschliche Knochenmark bei akuten Malariainfektionen. Z Tropenmed Parasit 14: 423–466
Mackey MC, Dörmer P (1981) Engimatic hemopoiesis. In: Rotenberg M (ed) Biomathematics and cell kinetics. Elsevier/North Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam, pp 87–103
McGregor IA (1978) Tropical aspects of the epidemiology of malaria. Isr J Med Sci 14: 523–536
Maegraith B (1948) Pathological processes in malaria and blackwater fever. Blackwell Scientific Publication, Oxford
Omanaga U (1978) Possible pathogenic mechanism of hemolysis in malaria. J Trop Pediatr Environ Child Health 24: 230–232
Rencricca NJ, Stout JP, Coleman RM (1974) Erythropoietin production in virulent malaria. Infect Immun 10: 831–833
Sheagren JN, Tobie JE, Fox LM, Wolff SM (1970) Reticuloendothelial system phagocytic function in naturally acquired human malaria. J Lab Clin Med 75: 481–487
Srichaikul T, Panikbutr N, Jeumtrakul P (1967) Bone-marrow changes in human malaria. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 61: 40–51
Srichaikul T, Siriasawakul T (1976) Ferrokinetics in patients with malaria: haemoglobin synthesis and normoblasts in vitro. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 70: 244–246
Srichaikul T, Siriasawakul T, Poskyachinda M (1973) Ferrokinetics in patients with malaria. Am J Clin Pathol 60: 166–174
Thonnard-Neumann E (1944) Zur Pathogenese der Malaria-Anämie. Dtsch Tropenmed Z 48: 129–147
Varavithya W, Chongsuphajaisiddhi T (1972) Erythrocyte composition in Plasmodium falciparum infection in man. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Publ Health 3: 175–181
Wickramasinghe SN, Abdalla S, Weatherall DJ (1982) Cell cycle distribution of erythroblasts in P. falciparum malaria. Scand J Haematol 29: 83–88
Woodruff AW, Ansdell VE, Pettitt LE (1979) Cause of anaemia in malaria. Lancet I: 1055–1057
Zuckerman A (1966) Recent studies on factors involved in malaria anemia. Mil Med 131: 1201–1216
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: SFB 51/A-16
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dörmer, P., Dietrich, M., Kern, P. et al. Ineffective erythropoiesis in acute human P. falciparum malaria. Blut 46, 279–288 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00319868
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00319868