Malaria parasite-infected erythrocytes inhibit glucose utilization in uninfected red cells - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2005 Nov 7;579(27):6151-8.

doi: 10.1016/j.febslet.2005.09.088. Epub 2005 Oct 11.

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Malaria parasite-infected erythrocytes inhibit glucose utilization in uninfected red cells

Monika Mehta et al. FEBS Lett. 2005.

Abstract

The erythrocytic stages of the malaria parasite depend on anaerobic glycolysis for energy. Using [2-13C]glucose and nuclear magnetic resonance, the glucose utilization rate and 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) level produced in normal RBCs and Plasmodium falciparum infected red blood cell populations (IRBCs, with <4% parasite infected red cells), were measured. The glucose flux in IRBCs was several-folds greater, was proportional to parasitemia, and maximal at trophozoite stage. The 2,3-DPG levels were disproportionately lower in IRBCs, indicating a downregulation of 2,3-DPG flux in non-parasitized RBCs. This may be due to lowered pH leading to selective differential inhibition of the regulatory glycolytic enzyme phosphofructokinase. This downregulation of the glucose utilization rate in the majority (>96%) of uninfected RBCs in an IRBC population may have physiological implications in malaria patients.

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