Antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum Glycosylphosphatidylinositols: Inverse Association with Tolerance of Parasitemia in Papua New Guinean Children and Adults
Loading...
Date
2002
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Infection and immunity
Abstract
Individuals living in regions of intense malaria transmission exhibit natural immunity that facilitates
persistence of parasitemia at controlled densities for much of the time without symptoms. This aspect of
immunity has been referred to as malarial “tolerance” and is thought to partly involve inhibition of the chain
of events initiated by a parasite toxin(s) that may otherwise result in cytokine release and symptoms such as
fever. Antibodies to the candidate Plasmodium falciparum glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) toxin have been
viewed as likely mediators of such tolerance. In this study, the relationship between antibodies to P. falciparum
GPIs, age, and parasitemia was determined in asymptomatic children and adults living in Madang, Papua New
Guinea. The prevalence and intensity of antibody responses increased with age and were lowest in children 1
to 4 years old with the highest-density parasitemias. In children of this age group who were tolerant of
parasitemia during the study, only 8.3% had detectable immunoglobulin G (IgG) and none had IgM antibodies
to GPI. This suggests that anti-GPI antibodies are unlikely to be the sole mediator of malarial tolerance,
especially in children younger than 5 years. Following antimalarial treatment, clearance of parasitemia led to
a fall in anti-GPI IgG response in children and adolescents within 6 weeks. As anti-GPI antibodies potentially
play a role in protecting against disease progression, our results caution against the treatment of asymptomatic
parasitemia and suggest that generation of a sustained antibody response in children poses a challenge to novel
antitoxic vaccination strategies.
Description
Keywords
Antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum Glycosylphosphatidylinositols, Papua New Guinean Children and Adults
Citation
Boutlis, C.S., Gowda, D.C., Naik, R.S., Maguire, G.P., Mgone, C.S., Bockarie, M.J., Lagog, M., Ibam, E., Lorry, K. and Anstey, N.M., 2002. Antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum glycosylphosphatidylinositols: inverse association with tolerance of parasitemia in Papua New Guinean children and adults. Infection and immunity, 70(9), pp.5052-5057.