MINI REVIEW article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Parasite and Host
This article is part of the Research TopicNext-Gen Molecular Tools for Malaria SurveillanceView all 3 articles
Blood group antigens and malaria susceptibility
Provisionally accepted
- 1Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
- 2Hainan University, Haikou, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Blood-group antigens are increasingly recognized as key modulators of malaria susceptibility. This review synthesizes current evidence on how erythrocyte surface molecules shape parasite invasion, cytoadherence, immune evasion, and disease severity. We focus on a curated set of systems, ABO, Duffy, MNS, Gerbich, Knops, Diego, and others, and outline their molecular mechanisms affecting malaria. Population heterogeneity, parasite-host adaptations/counter-adaptations, and clinical implications for risk stratification, transfusion safety, and vaccine design are also discussed.
Keywords: Blood Group Antigens, blood group genes, Blood group systems, Malaria, Malaria susceptibility
Received: 17 Oct 2025; Accepted: 29 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Liang, Gao and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ke Li
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.