A Clinical Study: Tumour Necrosis Factor Alpha as a Clinical Marker in Malaria in an Endemic Region, a Future Aid in Prognostication of Malaria.

Background: Although the treatment and incidence of malaria have been well documented, the biochemical markers for its severity have not been well studied and limited data is available from this part of the world.Tumour Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-α) level increase in Plasmodium vivax malaria(PVM) has been established in many previous studies Objective: We aimed to investigate the TNF-alpha levels of Plasmodiumfalciparum malaria (PFM) and in Mixed Malaria (PFM+PVM) with an objective, if this could be used in early malaria diagnosis. Methods: This study was a prospective non-randomized control study on 60 patients with proven malaria for the test sample and control of 20 volunteers. Tumour Necrosis factor Alpha levels were measured using commercially available ELISA human TNF-α kit. Results: The TNF-α levels of the malaria patients (mean=19.67144.3333, ± SD ±48.18 pcg/ml) were statistically higher in relation to those of the control group (4.63±9.05 pcg/ml; p<0.001) Significant increase in TNF alpha in Mixed Malaria, PFM was seen. PVM also showed raise in titres of TNF-α levels compared to the normal subjects. Interpretation: In our study, we found that the test group with malaria positive had significantly higher levels of TNF alpha. Conclusion: The levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha co-related proportionally with disease severity in malaria and may be used as a predictor for prognosis of the disease.