The gut microbiome is associated with susceptibility to febrile malaria in Malian children.

Malaria is a major public health problem, but many of the factors underlying the pathogenesis of this disease are not well understood, including protection from the development of febrile symptoms, which is observed in individuals residing in areas with moderate-to-high transmission by early adolescence. Here, we demonstrate that susceptibility to febrile malaria following Plasmodium falciparum infection is associated with the composition of the gut microbiome prior to the malaria season in 10-year-old Malian children, but not in younger children. Gnotobiotic mice colonized with the fecal samples of malaria-susceptible children were shown to have a significantly higher parasite burden following Plasmodium infection compared to gnotobiotic mice colonized with the fecal samples of malaria-resistant children.

Susceptibility to febrile malaria is associated with an inflammatory gut microbiome.

Malaria is a major public health problem, but many of the factors underlying the pathogenesis of this disease are not well understood. Here, we demonstrate in Malian children that susceptibility to febrile malaria following infection with is associated with the composition of the gut microbiome prior to the malaria season. Gnotobiotic mice colonized with the fecal samples of malaria-susceptible children had a significantly higher parasite burden following infection compared to gnotobiotic mice colonized with the fecal samples of malaria-resistant children.