CHI3L1 was correlated with pathways implicated in the pathobiology of severe malaria including markers of endothelial activation (angiopoietin-2, 0.43, p < 0.0001; sICAM-1, 0.43, p < 0.0001), markers of inflammation (CRP, 0.36, p < 0.0001; CXCL10/IP-10, 0.26, p = 0.0008; sTREM-1, 0.23, p = 0.005); and markers of haemolysis (LDH, 0.28, p = 0.0004; haemopexin, − 0.23, p = 0.004; haem, 0.30, p = 0.0001). This evidence concerns the gene CRP and malaria.