@article {Motta2022.08.02.499203, author = {Francis C. Motta and Kevin McGoff and Robert C. Moseley and Chun-Yi Cho and Christina M. Kelliher and Lauren M. Smith and Michael S. Ortiz and Adam R. Leman and Sophia A. Campione and Nicolas Devos and Suwanna Chaorattanakawee and Nichaphat Uthaimongkol and Worachet Kuntawunginn and Chadin Thongpiam and Chatchadaporn Thamnurak and Montri Arsanok and Mariusz Wojnarski and Pattaraporn Vanchayangkul and Nonlawat Boonyalai and Philip L. Smith and Michele Spring and Krisada Jongsakul and Ilin Chuang and John Harer and Steven B. Haase}, title = {The Parasite Intraerythrocytic Cycle and Human Circadian Cycle are Coupled During Malaria Infection}, elocation-id = {2022.08.02.499203}, year = {2022}, doi = {10.1101/2022.08.02.499203}, publisher = {Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory}, abstract = {During infections with malaria parasites P. vivax, patients exhibit rhythmic fevers every 48 hours. These fever cycles correspond with the time parasites take to traverse the Intraerythrocytic Cycle (IEC) and may be guided by a parasite-intrinsic clock. Different species of Plasmodia have cycle times that are multiples of 24 hours, suggesting they may be coordinated with the host circadian clock. We utilized an ex vivo culture of whole blood from patients infected with P. vivax to examine the dynamics of the host circadian transcriptome and the parasite IEC transcriptome. Transcriptome dynamics revealed that the phases of the host circadian cycle and the parasite IEC were correlated across multiple patients, suggesting that the cycles are coupled. In mouse model systems, host-parasite cycle coupling appears to provide a selective advantage for the parasite. Thus, understanding how host and parasite cycles are coupled in humans could enable anti-malarial therapies that disrupt this coupling.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.}, URL = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/08/04/2022.08.02.499203}, eprint = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/08/04/2022.08.02.499203.full.pdf}, journal = {bioRxiv} }