Erythrophagocytosis in malaria: Host defence or menace to the macrophage?

Macrophages in the host's bloodstream and tissue serve as a first line of defence during infection with Plasmodium. While the killing effect of these cells on parasites has been investigated extensively, relatively little is known about the phagocytosis of infected red blood cells. In this article, Paolo Arese and Franca Turrini have joined Hagai Ginsburg to address the perplexing relationships between the macrophage and the malaria-infected red blood cell. They suggest that the same molecular mechanisms that normally operate to remove senescent or damaged red blood cells also operate during malaria, although the parasite may indirectly cause the destruction of macrophages.