Acute kidney damage as a complication of malaria caused by Pl. malaria and Pl. falciparum: clinical cases

Abstract

We have described two clinical cases of severe malaria caused by different pathogens: Pl. falciparum and Pl. malaria, common to which there was a severe course, complicated by acute renal failure and hemolytic anemia. In a detailed analysis of both clinical cases, Patient 1 had acute kidney damage arose after the increase of anemia and thrombocytopenia, in combination with hemoglobinuria. This shows that the leading mechanism of kidney injure in this case is acute tubular necrosis, due to the toxic effects of free hemoglobin and sequestration in the capillaries of the glomerulus. A Patient 2 had a significant increase of anemia after appears of acute kidney damage; there was no hemoglobinuria, however, significant leukocytosis was observed. It seems, that the leading mechanism in this case is immune-mediated kidney injure or due to hypoperfusion of kidney tubules with the development of acute interstitial nephritis or immune complex glomerular injure with the development of glomerulonephritis, or a combination of them. A detailed analysis of the described two clinical cases of severe malaria caused by Pl. falciparum and Pl. malaria, respectively, and complicated by acute renal failure and hemolytic anemia, suggests that the pathogenetic mechanisms and severity of kidney damage depend on the type of malaria.