Host Genetic Susceptibility to Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa

Humans have been afflicted with tuberculosis (TB) and malaria since antiquity. Although largely eradicated from the developed nations of Europe and North America, these diseases have remained a constant threat in the developing world, especially Asia and Africa. TB and malaria are multifactorial infectious diseases which have been shown to have a strong genetic component through twin studies, genome-wide linkage studies and candidate gene association studies. This book reports research on candidate genes for TB and malaria in West Africa; focussing particularly on candidate genes involved in pathogen pattern recognition receptor pathways. A few of these genes (TIRAP, IFIH1) that appear to be associated with TB have been identified. There was no evidence for association of TLR9, TICAM2, IRF3, IRF5, IRF7 and MCP1 with TB, nor PKLR and BTLA with malaria. These findings add to our understanding of the multigenic basis of variable resistance to these diseases and provide further evidence for the importance of innate immunity genes in affecting susceptibility