”For the first time we have been able to detect major differences between the Fulani and other ethnic groups in the area. The differences occur within a specific type of immune cell”, says Ann-Kristin Östlund Farrants, professor at the Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner Gren Institute at Stockholm University and leader of the international study.
”We have studied the gene expression pattern in different cells of the immune defence and found that in monocytes more than thousand genes are differentially expressed in the Fulani upon malaria infection.”
The cells called monocytes are part of the first line of defence, and these cells alert the rest of the immune system. The reason for the strong response in monocytes in Fulani upon infection remains unknown, and could be caused by epigenetic changes or mutation in genes not directly involved in the immune defence. These changes may be inherited or be due to the lifestyle of the Fulani.
”If we understand why we may be able to produce better drugs to cure malaria. So far we have been able to combat the parasite, but unfortunately it turns resistant to pesticides”, says Marita Troye-Blomberg professor emerita at the Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute at Stockholm University and co-author of the study.
”We are trying to understand how the immune defence system react in the Fulani and how we should be able to initiate the same type of response among other ethnic groups. If it is possible to fight malaria by triggering the patient´s own immune system this method may serve as a model for treatment of other diseases caused by parasites”, she says.
“We are now eager to investigate whether the response in Fulani is general, also seen in the reaction to other pathogens” conclude Ann-Kristin Östlund Farrants.
The article ”Major transcriptional changes observed in the Fulani; an ethnic group less susceptible to malaria” was published in eLife September 19th.
