Metabolic Diversion of Substrates from Host to Parasite

Synonyms

Case management; Glucose; Hypoglycemia; Metabolism

Definition

This entry covers the possible competition between the malarial parasite and its human host for nutrients, as blood-stage parasites accumulate in tissues and number. Several complications of malaria may be exacerbated by this process.

Introduction

Malaria in humans is caused by Plasmodium parasites, which have complex life cycles involving both a mosquito vector and the human host. The disease establishes itself when the parasites invade the host’s red blood cells (following a period of clinically silent development within the host’s liver). Plasmodium parasites multiply vigorously within the red blood cells of their hosts (Staines et al. 2012). In the case of Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the majority of malaria deaths in humans, the parasites can divide several times within 48 h, producing up to 36 new daughter parasites (which invade further red blood cells upon release). This multiplication process places...