Extensive research on malaria in the last decades has generated numerous publications on the immunology and pathogenesis of this world-wide deadly disease. The aim of this database is to make these data more easily and schematically accessible to the research community and anyone who is interested in malaria. The MalarImDB (Malaria Immunology database) provides a detailed, schematic overview of the expression and roles of different immunological, metabolic, vascular and erythrocytic factors during blood-stage malaria infection in both patients and in mouse models infected with rodent malaria parasites. The data are classified into three different databases that are each equipped with search engines, enabling to rapidly obtain the desired information. All results can be exported as a csv file (scroll down to the bottom of the page) that can be opened with standard software programs e.g. Microsoft Excel.
- Human data
This database schematically compares the expression levels of a broad range of host factors in body fluids (e.g. serum, plasma, cerebrospinal fluid) or postmortem brain tissue between several patient groups with varying disease severity (e.g. lethal versus non-lethal cerebral malaria, severe malaria versus uncomplicated malaria). Information about the country, transmission (stable or unstable), Plasmodium species, patient group (adult or pediatric), sample size, additional clinical or correlational data, references, and a hyperlink to the original paper in the PubMed are included for each data entry. - Mouse expression data
This database illustrates the effect of malaria infection on the expression level (mRNA and protein) of a broad range of host factors in different organs (e.g. spleen, liver, lungs, brain) and body fluids (e.g. serum, plasma) of mice. Details about the rodent Plasmodium species, mouse strain, inoculum size, references, and a hyperlink to the original paper in the PubMed are included for each data entry. - Mouse treatment data
This database documents the effects of experimental treatments (e.g. depleting antibodies, recombinant proteins, chemical compounds) or genetic interventions (gene knockout) to unravel the role of a broad range of host factors on the course of pathology in murine malaria models. For each data entry we included data about the rodent Plasmodium species, mouse strain (and level of backcrossing), inoculum size, details about the treatment/knockout, effect on parasitemia, pathology and survival, additional data about the effects of the treatments (e.g. on expression of other factors), references, and a hyperlink to the original paper in the PubMed.
Currently, the database contains >2000 entries from ~500 PubMed publications and will be updated regularly. Everyone who is interested is encouraged to submit data for inclusion in the database by filling in the upload form.
See also our paper in Trends in Parasitology describing the MalarImDB database. If you use this database, we would appreciate that you cite this review accordingly: Deroost K, Opdenakker G, Van den Steen PE. MalarImDB, an open-acces literature-based malaria immunology database. Trends Parasitol. 2014, 30(6):309-316.