ITGAM and malaria: Higher expression of CD11b and HIF-1α in pulmonary macrophages plays a central role in mediating alveolar-endothelial barrier disruption, which ultimately leads to lung injury in malaria patients with ALI [18]; in other work, alveolar macrophages were conversely proposed as a protective agent in response to malaria infection, since the anti-CD11b treatment diminished monocyte homing and decreased parasite elimination in the lung tissues [19].