Oxidative Stress and Protein Carbonylation in Malaria

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the perturbed redox space found in malaria associated to pathogenicity, tolerance, drug action, and drug resistance, highlighting the physiopathological effects of its chemistry as regulator of metabolic and immune responses and as a source of damage in host tissues. It highlights redox transformations and its resulting posttranslationally modified proteins in malaria as significant mechanisms of disease and as biomarkers, both aiming to identify responsive elements and drug and immune targets. Although the malaria parasite lives and develops in a prooxidant-rich environment, it is also highly susceptible to oxidative stress; therefore the maintenance of the redox balance is fundamental for Plasmodium subsistence. The study of oxidation in Plasmodium yoelii-infected blood from mice shows a diminished protein carbonylation compared to uninfected cells. The chapter describes human polymorphisms modulating oxidative stress and/or oxidative changes during malaria disease that have been associated to tolerance to malaria.