Universidade Agostinho Neto
Angola
Problem Statement
Malaria continues to be a public health problem in Africa, contributing to the high rates of morbidity and deaths. Prof. Dr. Sacomboio's research assesses whether certain blood groups are associated with malaria infection susceptibility and severity.
Progress Highlights
The first phase of the project has been completed. This included monitoring patients with malaria, where more than a thousand patients were monitored, and 2 scientific articles have been published.
Key Findings
It is imperative to differentiate patients with malaria based on blood groups and sickle cell trait, taking into account mainly the blood count parameters that demonstrate that there are patients who, depending on blood group or sickle cell trait, may react weakly to malaria infection regardless of the degree of parasitemia and medical prognosis.
Potential Impact
This research will identify phenomena that may be associated with resistance to treatment, create public policies and improve human health.
Summary
Malaria continues to be a public health problem in Africa contributing to the high rates of morbidity and deaths. The research of Prof. Dr. Sacomboio will assess whether certain blood groups are associated with susceptibility and severity in malaria infection.
Grantee Description
Prof. Dr. Sacomboio holds a Ph.D. in Health Sciences from the School of Medicine of the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR) attained in 2017. He is a professor and researcher at the Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde/ Universidade Agostinho Neto (ISCISA/UAN). He works on research projects focused on malaria comorbidity and mortality, Malaria Acute Kidney Injury, CKD, Blood group polymorphism and malaria susceptibility, sickle cell anemia and malaria, and other projects.
The long-term aspiration of Prof. Dr. Sacomboio is to continue to discover clinical phenomena of infectious diseases that may be associated with genetic conditions and to help in the discovery of new forms of diagnosis and treatment, based on evidence-based medicine, especially local evidence in Africa. He intends to advance a niche of research on blood group polymorphisms, malaria, and kidney damage and discovers phenomena that may be associated with resistance to treatment, as well as train young African scientists to help conduct scientific research, and create policy public policies, professional changes and improve human health.
Project: Blood group Polymorphism and Susceptibility to malaria
In this project, we intend to evaluate the blood group polymorphism and define the susceptibility and severity profile of Plasmodium. Two study groups will participate in this project (500 individuals without malaria, and 500 individuals with malaria), where we will evaluate blood group polymorphisms (Duffy, ABO, Lewis, Kidd, Kell, RH, sickle cell anemia, and others). With the results of this study, we will be able to track the genetic conditions of the Angolan population involved in the emergence of diseases. Describe polymorphisms in Duffy, ABO, Lewis, Kidd, Kell, RH, sickle cell, and other blood groups that may be associated with resistance or susceptibility to malaria. Assess the frequency of factors that may be protective against Plasmodium infection or that minimize its pathogenicity. In the future, we will carry out in-depth studies on how blood transfusion can be a co-protector or not against Plasmodium infection, especially in women and children under 5 years old, who are more susceptible to Plasmodium infection. With these results, we can strengthen institutional research management and support systems to enable Pan-African research to thrive. We will be supporting the generation of cutting-edge research contributing to the transformation of Africa into a knowledge-based, innovation-led continent and the transformation of African lives through science.
