Association of variants in IL1B, TLR9, TREM1, IL10RA, and CD3G and Native American ancestry on malaria susceptibility in Colombian populations

Abstract Host genetics is an influencing factor in the manifestation of infectious diseases. In this study, the association of mild malaria with 28 variants in 16 genes previously reported in other populations and/or close to ancestry-informative markers (AIMs) selected was evaluated in an admixed 736 Colombian population sample. Additionally, the effect of genetic ancestry on phenotype expression was explored. For this purpose, the ancestral genetic composition of Turbo and El Bagre was determined. A higher Native American ancestry trend was found in the population with lower malaria susceptibility [odds ratio (OR) = 0.416, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.234–0.740, P = 0.003]. Three AIMs presented significant associations with the disease phenotype (MID1752, MID921, and MID1586). The first two were associated with greater malaria susceptibility (D/D, OR = 2.23, 95% CI = 1.06–4.69, P = 0.032 and I/D-I/I, OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.18–3.87, P = 0.011, respectively), and the latter has a protective effect on the appearance of malaria (I/I, OR = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.08–0.40, P