Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30940128›Full record

ArticleMalaria journal2019

Sensitive real-time PCR detection of Plasmodium falciparum parasites in whole blood by erythrocyte membrane protein 1 gene amplification.

Bryan Grabias, Edward Essuman, Isabella A Quakyi, Sanjai Kumar

Abstract readEvaluation Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Malaria journal, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Remoscope: a label-free imaging cytometer for malaria diagnostics.Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Bryan GrabiasLaboratory of Emerging Pathogens, Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA.
Edward EssumanLaboratory of Emerging Pathogens, Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA.
Isabella A QuakyiDepartment of Biological Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
Sanjai KumarLaboratory of Emerging Pathogens, Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA. Sanjai.Kumar@fda.hhs.gov.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMalaria remains a global public health problem responsible for 445,000 deaths in 2016. While microscopy remains the mainstay of malaria diagnosis, highly sensitive molecular methods for detection of low-grade sub-microscopic infections are needed for surveillance studies and identifying asymptomatic reservoirs of malaria transmission.

methodsThe Plasmodium falciparum genome sequence was analysed to identify high copy number genes that improve P. falciparum parasite detection in blood by RT-PCR. Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1)-specific primers were evaluated for P. falciparum detection in hospital-based microscopically positive dried blood spots and field-acquired whole blood from asymptomatic individuals from Ghana.

resultsPfEMP1 outperformed the Pf18S sequence for amplification-based P. falciparum detection. PfEMP1 primers exhibited sevenfold higher sensitivity compared to Pf18S primers for parasite genomic DNA. Probit analysis established a 95% detection threshold of 9.3 parasites/mL for PfEMP1 compared to 98.2 parasites/mL for Pf18S primers. The PfEMP1 primers also demonstrated superior clinical sensitivity, identifying 100% (20/20) of dried blood spot samples and 70% (69/98) of asymptomatic individuals as positive versus 55% (11/20) and 54% (53/98), respectively, for Pf18S amplification.

conclusionsThese results establish PfEMP1 as a novel amplification target for highly sensitive detection of both acute infections from filter paper samples and submicroscopic asymptomatic low-grade infections.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAsymptomatic DiseasesBloodChildChild, PreschoolDNA PrimersFemaleGhanaHumansInfantMalaria, FalciparumMaleMass ScreeningMolecular Diagnostic TechniquesPlasmodium falciparumDNA Primerserythrocyte membrane protein 1, Plasmodium falciparumProtozoan ProteinsGenomic DNAParasitemiaPlasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1Real-time PCR

Identifiers

PMID30940128
PMCPMC6444846

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Registered trials

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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.