Kids Infected With Malaria are Likely to Develop Burkitt's Lymphoma

Burkitt's lymphoma is a highly aggressive blood cancer. Regions of equatorial Africa where children are ten times more likely than in other parts of the world to develop Burkitt's lymphoma, are also plagued by higher rates of malaria. Researchers have spent the last 50 years trying to understand how the two diseases are connected. A new study has now revealed that children infected with the malaria parasite are likely to experience DNA damage that can lead to Burkitt's lymphoma. The study findings suggested that the same enzyme that helps create antibodies that fight off the malaria parasite also causes DNA damage that can lead to the aggressive blood cancer. First author of the study Davide Robbiani from Rockefeller University in New York said, "The body needs this enzyme in order to produce potent antibodies to fight malaria. But in the process, the enzyme can cause substantial collateral damage to the cells that produce it, and that can lead to lymphoma." explained .

For the new study, the researchers infected mice with a form of the parasite that causes malaria, Plasmodium chabaudi. They immediately noticed that the mice experienced a huge increase in germinal center (GC) B lymphocytes, the activated form of the white blood cells that can give rise to Burkitt's lymphoma. As these cells rapidly proliferate, they also express high levels of an enzyme known as activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), which induces mutations in the DNA. As a result, these cells can diversify to generate a wide range of antibodies, an essential step in fighting off various infections. The study also found that in addition to beneficial mutations in antibody genes, AID can also cause 'off-target' damage and shuffling of cancer-causing genes.

The research appeared in Cell.

Source-IANS