598 TRANSACTIONS OFTHE ROYAL SOCIETY OFTROPICAL MEDICINE AND HYGIENE (1992)86, 59s601
Polymorphonuclear
leucocyte
elastase
in Plasmodium
falciparum
malaria
S. Pukrittayakameel*, R. Clemens’, C. Pramoolsinsap2, H. E. Karges3, S. Vanijanontal, D. White134 ‘Bangkok Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 2Division of Gastroenterology and Tropical Medicine, Department of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Rama IV Road, Bangkok, Thailand; 3Behringwerke AC, Marburg, Germany; 4Nuffield Department University of Oxfmd, Oxford, UK
Bunnag’ Bangkok, Mahidol of Clinical
and N. J. Thailand; University, Medicine,
Abstract
Sixty-one patients with falciparum malaria were studied prospectively to determine the plasma concentrations of the lysosomal proteinase.,polymorphonuclear leucocyte elastase(PMN-elastase) and their relationship to diseaseseverity. The panents were divided into 3 groups; severe(parasitaemia ~5%) or vital organ dysfunction (n=23), moderate (parasitaemia 1%5% without complications) (n= 15), and mild (parasitaemia 700 >700 156 219 164 >700 >700 >700 125 >700 >700 >700
Another patient with cerebral malaria and acute renal failure died 7 d after admission; the admission PMNelastase level was 270 rig/ml. Plasma concentrations of PMN-elastase decreasedas the patients became afebrile and aparasitaemic(Fig. 1). Correlations between plasm concentrations of PMN-elastase and other laboratory findings
Admission plasma concentrations of PMN-elastase correlated directly with parasite count (rs=0.62, P