Malaria-induced renal damage: facts and myths

Malaria infections repeatedly have been reported to induce nephrotic syndrome and acute renal failure. Questions have been raised whether the association of a nephrotic syndrome with quartan malaria was only coincidental, and whether the acute renal failure was a specific or unspecific consequence of Plasmodium falciparum infection. This review attempts to answer questions about “chronic quartan malaria nephropathy” and “acute falciparum malaria nephropathy”. The literature review was performed on all publications on kidney involvement in human and experimental malarial infections accessible in PubMed or available at the library of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The association of a nephrotic syndrome with quartan malaria was mostly described before 1975 in children and rarely in adult patients living in areas endemic for Plasmodium malariae. The pooled data on malaria-induced acute renal failure included children and adults acquiring falciparum malaria in endemic areas either as natives or as travellers from non-tropical countries. Non-immunes (not living in endemic areas) had a higher risk of developing acute renal failure than semi-immunes (living in endemic areas). Children with cerebral malaria had a higher rate and more severe course of acute renal failure than children with mild malaria. Today, there is no evidence of a dominant role of steroid-resistant and chronic “malarial glomerulopathies” in children with a nephrotic syndrome in Africa. Acute renal failure was a frequent and serious complication of falciparum malaria in non-immune adults. However, recently it has been reported more often in semi-immune African children with associated morbidity and mortality.