Imperial College London
Portrait Picture

Professor Thomas N Williams

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Surgery & Cancer

Chair in Haemoglobinopathy Research
 
 
 
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Contact

 

tom.williams Website

 
 
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Location

 

Norfolk PlaceSt Mary's Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Abuga:2020:10.3390/ijms21186976,
author = {Abuga, KM and Muriuki, JM and Williams, T and Atkinson, SH},
doi = {10.3390/ijms21186976},
journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
title = {How severe anaemia might influence the risk of invasive bacterial infections in African children},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms21186976},
volume = {21},
year = {2020}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Severe anaemia and invasive bacterial infections are common causes of childhood sickness and death in sub-Saharan Africa. Accumulating evidence suggests that severely anaemic African children may have a higher risk of invasive bacterial infections. However, the mechanisms underlying this association remain poorly described. Severe anaemia is characterized by increased haemolysis, erythropoietic drive, gut permeability, and disruption of immune regulatory systems. These pathways are associated with dysregulation of iron homeostasis, including the downregulation of the hepatic hormone hepcidin. Increased haemolysis and low hepcidin levels potentially increase plasma, tissue and intracellular iron levels. Pathogenic bacteria require iron and/or haem to proliferate and have evolved numerous strategies to acquire labile and protein-bound iron/haem. In this review, we discuss how severe anaemia may mediate the risk of invasive bacterial infections through dysregulation of hepcidin and/or iron homeostasis, and potential studies that could be conducted to test this hypothesis.
AU  - Abuga,KM
AU  - Muriuki,JM
AU  - Williams,T
AU  - Atkinson,SH
DO  - 10.3390/ijms21186976
PY  - 2020///
SN  - 1422-0067
TI  - How severe anaemia might influence the risk of invasive bacterial infections in African children
T2  - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms21186976
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/83628
VL  - 21
ER  -
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