ArticleAging cell2018
Cellular aging dynamics after acute malaria infection: A 12-month longitudinal study.
Article in Aging cell, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04802044 (COVID-19, Aging, and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors), which is not on this map. Cited by 29 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
COVID-19, Aging, and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors (CARAMEL) Study: Integrating Aging, Cardiovascular, Metabolic, and Immunological Studies to Unravel COVID-19 Pathophysiology
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Infection and telomere length: A systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Cellular senescence in acute human infectious disease: a systematic review.Frontiers in aging · 2024Pooled it
- Unsuppressed Viremia and Lower CD4 Count Associated With Faster Telomere Attrition in African Children With Perinatal Human Immunodeficiency Virus on Long-term Antiretroviral Therapy.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2026Trial
- The Association of Ramadan Fasting on Relative Leukocyte Telomere Length in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.Journal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies · 2026Article
- CumulativeFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Naturally acquired malaria is associated with shorter leukocyte relative telomere length and increased hTERT expression in an endemic nigerian population.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- First Direct Evidence of Accelerated Molecular Aging in Intracranial Aneurysmal Tissue.Aging cell · 2025Article
- Review
- Immune response accelerated telomere shortening during early life stage of a passerine bird, the blue tit (Biology letters · 2025Article
- Global research landscape of telomere biology in infectious diseases: mechanistic links between host-pathogen interactions and immune ageing.Frontiers in aging · 2025Review
- Malaria endemicity linked to shorter telomeres in leukocytes.Trends in parasitology · 2024Article
- The Impact of HIV and Parasite Single Infection and Coinfection on Telomere Length: A Systematic Review.Current issues in molecular biology · 2024Review
- Telomere Length in a South African Population Co-Infected with HIV and Helminths.Current issues in molecular biology · 2024Article
- Association between telomere length and Plasmodium falciparum malaria endemicity in sub-Saharan Africans.American journal of human genetics · 2024Article
- Why and when should organisms elongate their telomeres? Elaborations on the 'excess resources elongation' and 'last resort elongation' hypotheses.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Mitochondrial biogenesis, telomere length and cellular senescence in Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Stress and telomere shortening: Insights from cellular mechanisms.Ageing research reviews · 2022Review
- The tarnished silver spoon? Trade-off between prenatal growth and telomere length in wild boar.Journal of evolutionary biology · 2022Article
- Biomarkers of cellular aging during a controlled human malaria infection.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- COVID-19, ferrosenescence and neurodegeneration, a mini-review.Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Accelerated cellular aging and reduced lifespan have recently been shown in birds chronically infected with malaria parasites. Whether malaria infection also affects cellular aging in humans has not been reported. Here, we assessed the effect of a single acute Plasmodium falciparum malaria infection on cellular aging dynamics in travelers prospectively followed over one year in Sweden. DNA and RNA were extracted from venous blood collected at the time of admission and repeatedly up to one year. Telomere length was measured using real-time quantitative PCR, while telomerase activity and CDKN2A expression were measured by reverse transcriptase (RT)-qPCR. Our results show that acute malaria infection affects cellular aging as reflected by elevated levels of CDKN2A expression, lower telomerase activity, and substantial telomere shortening during the first three months postinfection. After that CDKN2A expression declined, telomerase activity increased and telomere length was gradually restored over one year, reflecting that cellular aging was reversed. These findings demonstrate that malaria infection affects cellular aging and the underlying cellular mechanism by which pathogens can affect host cellular aging and longevity need to be elucidated. Our results urge the need to investigate whether repeated malaria infections have more pronounced and long-lasting effects on cellular aging and lifespan (similarly to what was observed in birds) in populations living in malaria endemic areas.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.