ArticleBMC infectious diseases2026
Distinct systemic cytokine signatures define symptomatic malaria in children: insights from a longitudinal study in Togo.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Interferon-γ and Interleukin-10 Profiles Correlate with Disease Severity in Sudanese Children withJournal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMalaria remains a significant public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly among children, where immune responses and clinical manifestations to Plasmodium falciparum infection vary widely. Understanding the interplay between parasitemia, immune responses, and clinical outcomes is essential to improving case management. This study aimed to identify systemic cytokine signatures that define symptomatic malaria in children, by analyzing cytokine dynamics over time and their association with parasite burden and clinical status in children aged 6–10 years in Togo.
methodsA longitudinal cohort study was conducted in the Prefecture d’Agoè, Togo, from November 2023 to February 2024. Sixty children were enrolled and treated with artemether-lumefantrine and albendazole. Weekly monitoring was performed over 12 weeks using microscopy and qPCR for P. falciparum detection. Systemic cytokines, including IL-1β, IL-6, IFN-γ, IL-17 A, IL-5, and IL-10, were measured by Sandwich ELISA. Associations between cytokine concentrations, parasite densities, and cycle threshold (Ct) values were assessed using Spearman’s correlation.
resultsOf the 60 children, 25% (n = 15) tested positive for P. falciparum by qPCR, while 15% (n = 9) had microscopy-confirmed infections. Overall, 33.3% (n = 5) progressed to symptomatic malaria; the remainder were asymptomatic carriers. Symptomatic cases exhibited significantly elevated IL-6 (vs. non-infected, p = 0.0004; vs. asymptomatic, p = 0.0003; vs. recovered, p = 0.0037), IFN-γ (vs. non-infected, p < 0.0001; vs. asymptomatic, p = 0.0048), and IL-10 levels (vs. non-infected, p < 0.0001; vs. recovered, p = 0.0004). IL-10 levels were also higher in asymptomatic children compared to non-infected (p = 0.0013), while IFN-γ was elevated in recovered cases (vs. non-infected, p = 0.0309). In symptomatic children, IL-10 levels showed a strong negative correlation with Ct values (r = -0.973, p = 0.001) and a strong positive correlation with parasite density (r = 0.911, p = 0.001). IFN-γ exhibited moderate correlations with both, Ct values (r = -0.442, p = 0.037) and parasite density (r = 0.518, p = 0.027).
conclusionThis study identifies distinct cytokine signatures, particularly elevated IL-10 and IFN-γ, that characterize symptomatic malaria in children and correlate with parasite burden. These cytokines may serve as prognostic biomarkers and offer insights for targeted interventions in paediatric malaria.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.