Frequency of RANTES gene polymorphisms and their association with incidence of malaria: a longitudinal study on children in Iganga district, Uganda (Malaria Journal)

Background: The severity and outcome of malaria is influenced by host immunity in which chemokines such as Regulated upon Activation, Normal T cell Expressed and Secreted (RANTES) play an important role. Previous studies show that variations in the RANTES gene affect RANTES protein production, hence altering host immunity. In this study, the relationship between presence of mutations in RANTES and incidence of malaria in a cohort of children living in a malaria-endemic area of Uganda was determined. Methods: This was a longitudinal study comprising of 423 children aged between 6 months and 9 years, who were actively followed up for 1 year. Malaria episodes occurring in the cohort children were detected and the affected children treated with national policy drug regimen. Mutations in the RANTES gene were determined by PCR–RFLP method and their frequencies were calculated. A multivariate negative binomial regression model was used to estimate the impact of RANTES mutations on malaria incidence. In all statistical tests, a P-value of