Endothelial Glycocalyx: Shedding Light on Malaria Pathogenesis

Malaria is estimated to kill 438 000 people annually, mostly due to severe malaria, which is closely associated with microcirculatory vasculopathy, although its pathogenesis remains incompletely understood. Here, we propose that the largely ignored glycocalyx of the vascular endothelium plays an important role in facilitating the pathogenesis of severe malaria.