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Erythrocyte CR1 expression level does not correlate with a HindIII restriction fragment length polymorphism in Africans; implications for studies on malaria susceptibility

Genes & Immunity volume 3, pages 497–500 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Complement receptor 1 (CR1) expression level on erythrocytes is genetically determined, and in Caucasian populations is linked to high (H) and low (L) expression alleles identified by a HindIII restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Erythrocyte CR1 may be an important factor in determining malaria susceptibility, as low expression of CR1 reduces the rosetting of uninfected erythrocytes with Plasmodium falciparum-infected cells, a process that contributes to malaria pathogenesis. Prior to studying CR1 expression and malaria susceptibility, we have investigated whether the quantity of erythrocyte CR1 correlates with the H and L alleles in an African population. Mean erythrocyte CR1 in 149 Malian adults was 415 molecules per cell, which is comparable to Caucasian populations; however, there was no relationship between erythrocyte CR1 level and genotype for the HindIII RFLP (mean CR1 per erythrocyte HH=414, HL=419 and LL=403, P>0.1, Student's t-test). The conclusions of a previous study of erythrocyte CR1 expression level and malaria susceptibility in West Africa that was based on HindIII RFLP genotyping may therefore need to be re-evaluated.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the volunteers in Houston and Mali who donated blood for this study. We also thank the physicians and staff of the Bandiagara Traditional Medicine Centre and Health Centre, the Bandiagara Traditional Healers Association, and the community of Bandiagara.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    J A Rowe, A Raza & I A Cockburn

  2. University of Mali, Bamako, Mali

    D A Diallo, M Baby, B Poudiougo, D Coulibaly & O K Doumbo

  3. Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    J Middleton & J M Moulds

  4. University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA

    K E Lyke & C V Plowe

Authors
  1. J A Rowe
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  2. A Raza
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  5. B Poudiougo
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  6. D Coulibaly
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  7. I A Cockburn
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  8. J Middleton
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  9. K E Lyke
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  10. C V Plowe
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  11. O K Doumbo
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  12. J M Moulds
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J A Rowe.

Additional information

This work was funded by the Wellcome Trust (grant no 055167), the National Institutes of Health (grant no R01 AI42367, contract no N01-AI-85346 and grant no 5P50AI39469), the UNDP/World Bank/WHO TDR/Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (grant no 980152) and the International Atomic Energy Agency's Department of Technical Co-operation.

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Rowe, J., Raza, A., Diallo, D. et al. Erythrocyte CR1 expression level does not correlate with a HindIII restriction fragment length polymorphism in Africans; implications for studies on malaria susceptibility. Genes Immun 3, 497–500 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gene.6363899

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