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Table 1 Baseline clinical and biochemical characteristics of participants at the time of enrolment

From: The role of previously unmeasured organic acids in the pathogenesis of severe malaria

Characteristics

Uncomplicated malaria N=102

Severe malaria N=138

Sepsis N=32

Encephalopathy N=35

P value*

Male, n (%)

80

(78 %)

97

(70 %)

15

(47 %)

23

(66 %)

0.008

Age, yr, mean (SD, range)

33

(14.8, 16–70)

36

(14.2, 16–75)

37

(14.7, 16–70)

40

(18.4, 18–75)

0.106

Respiratory rate, breaths/min, mean (SD, range)

26

(6.6, 18–48)

32

(10.2, 15–93)

34

(9.9, 15–58)

30

(9.4, 12–60)

<0.001

Heart rate, beats/min, mean (SD, range)

95

(16.2, 64–149)

110

(22.5, 54–166)

120

(16.9, 92–151)

104

(24.7, 60–170)

<0.001

Mean arterial pressure, mmHg, mean (SD, range)

81

(11.7, 57–115)

83

(15.2, 28–144)

79

(19.3, 20–127)

93

(17.1, 64–125)

<0.001

Shock, SBP <80 mmHg, n (%)

0

(0 %)

2

(1.4 %)

6

(19 %)

0

(0 %)

 

Glasgow Coma Scale score, geo mean (95 % CI)

15

(15–15)

9

(9–10)

11

(9–13)

7

(6–8)

<0.001

 GCS score <15, n (%)

15/102

(15 %)

109/138

(79 %)

17/32

(53 %)

35/35

(100 %)

 

 GCS score <11, n (%)

0

(0 %)

87/138

(63 %)

10/32

(31 %)

35/35

(100 %)

 

 GCS score <8, n (%)

0

(0 %)

28/138

(20 %)

7/32

(22 %)

10/35

(29 %)

 

Parasitaemia (count/μl), geo mean (95 % CI)

11,184

(6853–18,253)

27,933

(18,101–43,105)

    

0.007

PfHRP2 (ng/ml), geo mean (95 % CI)a

274

(201–376)

1,684

(1,323–2,143)

    

<0.001

Total bilirubin (mg/dl), geo mean (95 % CI, range)

1.1

(0.9–1.4, 0.2–28.3)

2.8

(2.3–3.5, 0.2–44.2)

0.94

(0.6–1.5, 0.2–10.9)

0.47

(0.3–0.6, 0.1–6.0)

<0.001

Creatinine (mg/dl), geo mean (95 % CI, range)

1.0

(0.9–1.0, 0.5–2.3)

1.5

(1.3–1.7, 0.5–8.6)

1.7

(1.2–2.3,0.3–14.1)

1.1

(0.9–1.4, 0.6–24.3)

<0.001

Acute kidney injury (creatinine >3 mg/dl)

0/101

(0 %)

20/135

(15 %)

6/31

(19 %)

2/35

(6 %)

 

Hb (g/dl), mean (SD, range)

10.6

(2.8, 3.8–15.6)

9.6

(3.1, 2.6–17.5)

10.3

(3.0, 5.0–16.7)

12.3

(2.5, 4.7–16.1)

<0.001

Anaemia (Hb <7 g/dl), n (%)

13

(13 %)

24

(17 %)

3

(9 %)

2

(6 %)

 

Glucose (mg/dl), geo mean (95 % CI, range)

122

(114–130, 55–332)

124

(115–134, 33–455)

126

(104–152, 39–443)

146

(124–171, 63–612)

0.205

Hypoglycaemia (<40 mg/dl), n (%)

0

(0 %)

3

(2 %)

1

(3 %)

0

(0 %)

 

Mortality, n (%)

0

(0 %)

39

(28 %)

16

(50 %)

15

(43 %)

<0.001

  1. Abbreviations: GCS Glasgow Coma Scale, geo mean geometric mean, Hb haemoglobin, PfHRP2 Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2, SBP systolic blood pressure, SD standard deviation
  2. *P values were derived by analysis of variance (ANOVA) between four participant groups (one-way ANOVA for normally distributed continuous variables or variables log-transformed toward normality; Kruskal-Wallis test for non-normally distributed variables). Student’s t tests were used for comparison of (log-transformed) parasite count and PfHRP2 concentrations, where only two participant groups are compared. χ2 tests were used for comparison of mortality
  3. aOwing to limited assay availability for PfHRP2 analysis, data represent 95 participants for uncomplicated malaria and 126 for severe malaria