INCREASED PLASMA-LIPID PEROXIDATION IN RIBOFLAVIN-DEFICIENT, MALARIA-INFECTED CHILDREN

Plasma lipid peroxides were measured as malonyldialdehyde (MDA) by the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method in 75 children suffering from Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Their riboflavin status was assessed by measuring erythrocyte glutathione reductase activation coefficients (EGRACs), and values > 1.40 were regarded as indicating biochemical deficiency. Plasma MDA was higher (p < 0.001) in patients than in control subjects; the concentrations were 3.65 ± 0.70 and 1.77 ± 0.45 μmol/L (x̄ ± SD), respectively. The riboflavin-deficient group had higher plasma MDA values (3.98 ± 0.70 μmol/L) than did the nondeficient group (3.30 ± 0.68 μmol/L, p < 0.001). Plasma MDA concentrations correlated with EGRACs (r = 0.46, p < 0.01) in the patients. It is proposed that riboflavin deficiency restricts regeneration of reduced glutathione making the parasitized erythrocytes more vulnerabile to destructive lipid peroxidation and increasing plasma lipid hydroperoxides.