HbS Protection from P. falciparum Infection

Recent investigations have highlighted various mechanisms of interaction between the Plasmodium falciparum(P. falciparum) parasite and the host, which are important for the understanding of the well -known protective effect by haemoglobinopathies like Sickle Cell Trait and �± -Thalassemia against incidence and severity of malaria. Attention must therefore be given in the first place to the modifications induced in red blood cells (RBC) by the parasite in order to survive and display its path ogenic action: in this context, both the production of novel transport pathways able to support the development of the parasite during the erythrocytic cycle (in a cell which has lost transport activities during maturation process) and the changes induced to the RBC actin cyto-skeleton are discussed. As for the mechanisms involved in protection from P. falciparuminfection, they can be of genetic, molecular, immunological character as well as interactive, due to the interplay of different factors. Some protection is afforded by genetic changes preventing P. falciparumto survive and proliferate within the red cell: such changes may include