AUTHOR=Babatunde Kehinde Adebayo , Adenuga Oluwadamilola Fatimat 

TITLE=Neutrophils in malaria: A double-edged sword role

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.922377

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2022.922377

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Neutrophils are the most abundant leukocytes in human peripheral blood. They form the first line of defense against invading foreign pathogens and might play a crucial role in malaria. According to World Health Organization (WHO), malaria is a globally significant disease caused by protozoan parasites from the <italic>Plasmodium</italic> genus, and it’s responsible for 627,000 deaths in 2020. Neutrophils participate in the defense response against the malaria parasite <italic>via</italic> phagocytosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Neutrophils might also be involved in the pathogenesis of malaria by the release of toxic granules and the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Intriguingly, malaria parasites inhibit the anti-microbial function of neutrophils, thus making malaria patients more susceptible to secondary opportunistic <italic>Salmonella</italic> infections. In this review, we will provide a summary of the role of neutrophils during malaria infection, some contradicting mouse model neutrophil data and neutrophil-related mechanisms involved in malaria patients’ susceptibility to bacterial infection.</p>