MANNOSE-BINDING PROTEIN-DEFICIENCY IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH MALARIA, HEPATITIS-B CARRIAGE NOR TUBERCULOSIS IN AFRICANS

We retrospectively studied MBP genotypes in patients with malaria, tub erculosis (TB), and persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriage, in cl inics and hospitals in The Gambia. Children under 10 years with cerebr al malaria and/or severe malarial anaemia, were compared with children with symptomatic, mild malaria, and controls of the same age and ethn icity. Adult TB cases with smear-positive pulmonary TB were compared w ith healthy blood donors from the same ethnic groups. Malaria cases an d controls were tested for hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) and su rface antigen (HBsAg). TB patients were tested for HIV antibodies. Gen otyping used sequence-specific oligonucleotide analysis to identify MB P variant alleles. Overall, 46% (944/2041) of patients and controls we re homozygous for the wild-type MBP allele, 45% (922/2041) were carrie rs of a single variant allele and 8.6% (175/2041) had two variant alle les. Neither homozygotes nor heterozygotes for MBP variants were at in creased risk of clinical malaria, persistent HBV carriage or TB. The m ost common mutation in Africans, the codon 57 variant allele, was weak ly associated with resistance to TB (221/794 in TB cases and 276/844 i n controls, p=0.037). MBP deficiency is not a significant risk factor for persistent HBV, severe malaria nor pulmonary TB in West Africa.