Figure 5

Circulating glutamine levels and HSP70 transcripts in children with malaria. (A) Glutamine plasma concentrations (mmol/L) in children stratified into non-SMA (Hb ≥5.0 g/dL, n = 37) and SMA (Hb <5.0 g/dL, n = 31). Box plots depict the data, where the box represents the interquartile range, the line through the box is the median, and whiskers illustrate the 10th and 90th percentiles. Significance determined by Mann-Whitney U test. (B) Relationship between circulating glutamine (GLN) and hemoglobin (Hb) levels (g/dL) determined using Spearman’s rank correlation test. Also shown are lines indicating cutoff values for SMA (Hb <5.0 g/dL) relative to GLN levels above and below 420 mmol/L (<420, n = 20 and >420, n = 48), and referenced according to 2STD below the mean (<598 mmol/L, n = 29 and >598, n = 39). Logistic regression analyses were used to determine the relationship between the GLN cutoff values and susceptibility to SMA. (C) Relationship between plasma GLN and HSP70 transcripts levels (n = 33) was determine by Spearman’s rank correlation test.