The impact of malaria on lipids and glucocorticoids in children under ten years at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospita

Background: Malaria is a common and life-threatening disease in Ghana. Malaria infection has been implicated in lipid and glucocorticoid imbalances among children. Cortisol-induced stresses and parasitaemia, may affect the brain development and risk of cardiovascular disorders among children.

Aim: To investigate the impact malaria has on lipids and glucocorticoids.

Method: A comparative cross-sectional study using random sampling method between February and May, 2019 was used. A sample size of 77 participants comprising 46 cases and 31 controls were involved in the study. Thick and thin blood smears were made for each participant, stained with Giemsa and examined under microscope. Plasma total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL and LDL were estimated using a chemistry analyzer. Cortisol levels of participants were measured by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Result: Plasmodium falciparum was responsible for all identified cases of malaria infection in this study. Ages 1-5years (n=11) had a prevalence of 23.9% whiles 6-9years (n=35) had a prevalence of 76.1%. Children aged 6-9 years were more likely to get malaria than those in the 1-5 years group (OR=1.966, p<0.001). HDL-Chol associated negatively with level of parasitaemia (rho=-0.538, p<0.0001). Triglycerides correlated weakly but positively with malaria count (rho=0.296, p<0.05). No association were observed for LDL-Chol, VLDL-Chol and Total-Chol versus malaria count (p >0.05). Cortisol was not associated with level of parasitaemia in this study (p>0.05).

Conclusion: This study showed no association between cortisol and malaria in affected patients.

HDL-Chol impacted negatively with level of parasitaemia. The implications of malaria on glucocorticoids however merit further research.