{"title":"Parasite-resistant variants in African genomes: implications for global genetic medicine.","authors":"Kevin Esoh, Abdoulaye Yalcouyé, Ambroise Wonkam","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2025.05.007","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>African populations harbor the highest genetic diversity globally, shaped by over 300 000 years of adaptation to the continent's diverse ecology. Parasitic infections like malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) and sleeping sickness (Trypanosoma brucei) have driven genetic selection for resistance. For instance, the sickle-cell mutation (HBB:c.20A>T) offers malaria protection but causes sickle-cell disease. Similarly, APOL1 gene variants (G1/G2) protect against sleeping sickness but increase the risk of kidney disease. While these variants provide survival benefits, they also pose significant health challenges. This highlights the need for research into their effects on organ systems, epistasis, and potential therapies. Drugs targeting APOL1 synthesis are being tested to treat APOL1-mediated nephropathy, and exploring African genomes may uncover new parasite-resistant variants, advancing global genomic medicine.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":"536-546"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Trends in parasitology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2025.05.007","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/6/5 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PARASITOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
African populations harbor the highest genetic diversity globally, shaped by over 300 000 years of adaptation to the continent's diverse ecology. Parasitic infections like malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) and sleeping sickness (Trypanosoma brucei) have driven genetic selection for resistance. For instance, the sickle-cell mutation (HBB:c.20A>T) offers malaria protection but causes sickle-cell disease. Similarly, APOL1 gene variants (G1/G2) protect against sleeping sickness but increase the risk of kidney disease. While these variants provide survival benefits, they also pose significant health challenges. This highlights the need for research into their effects on organ systems, epistasis, and potential therapies. Drugs targeting APOL1 synthesis are being tested to treat APOL1-mediated nephropathy, and exploring African genomes may uncover new parasite-resistant variants, advancing global genomic medicine.
期刊介绍：
Since its inception as Parasitology Today in 1985, Trends in Parasitology has evolved into a highly esteemed review journal of global significance, reflecting the importance of medical and veterinary parasites worldwide. The journal serves as a hub for communication among researchers across all disciplines of parasitology, encompassing endoparasites, ectoparasites, transmission vectors, and susceptible hosts.
Each monthly issue of Trends in Parasitology offers authoritative, cutting-edge, and yet accessible review articles, providing a balanced and comprehensive overview, along with opinion pieces offering personal and novel perspectives. Additionally, the journal publishes a variety of short articles designed to inform and stimulate thoughts in a lively and widely-accessible manner. These include Science & Society (discussing the interface between parasitology and the general public), Spotlight (highlighting recently published research articles), Forum (presenting single-point hypotheses), Parasite/Vector of the Month (featuring a modular display of the selected species), Letter (providing responses to recent articles in Trends in Parasitology), and Trendstalk (conducting interviews). Please note that the journal exclusively publishes literature reviews based on published data, with systematic reviews, meta-analysis, and unpublished primary research falling outside our scope.
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