An infection with Plasmodium results in severe malaria that can lead to acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS). In these cases, the mortality is approximately 80%. Malaria-associated ALI/ARDS is thought to be due, in part, to increased alveolar permeability to parasite sequestration and the host immune response; however, the mechanisms behind this disease are largely unknown. ALI/ARDS can occur at any time during an infection, even after treatment with antimalarial drugs when parasitemia has been reduced. The development of ALI/ARDS even after treatment, along with its negative outcomes, makes the early identification and effective treatment of those who develop this syndrome a very important issue. However, there is little information on the disease progression of malaria-associated ALI/ARDS, resulting in a lack of knowledge of mechanisms of pathogenesis. We work to elucidate parasite-host interaction on investigating these mechanisms, including cytoadhesion of infected red blood cell, apoptosis, inflammatory factors, Toll-like recepetors,  identify biomarkers with potential importance for early diagnosis and a better prognosis to malaria-associated acute lung injury acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) in vitro and in murine models.

​

​