The parasite’s life cycle inside red blood cells aligns with the human daily body clock during malaria infection

Infection with malaria parasites is associated with synchronized cycles of host circadian rhythms and parasite development occurring every 48 hours.

• Patients infected with malaria exhibit rhythmic fevers every 48 hours, corresponding to the parasite's intraerythrocytic cycle.
• The dynamics of transcriptomes indicate that the host circadian cycle and parasite development cycles are correlated across multiple patients.
• This correlation suggests that the parasite's intrinsic clock may be synchronized with the host's circadian rhythms.
• In mouse models, this synchronization appears to provide a selective advantage to the parasite.
• Disrupting the coupling between host and parasite cycles may inform future antimalarial therapies.

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