Opsonising Antibodies to P. falciparum Merozoites Associated with Immunity to Clinical Malaria.
- Author(s)
- Hill, DL; Eriksson, EM; Li Wai Suen, CS; Chiu, CY; Ryg-Cornejo, V; Robinson, LJ; Siba, PM; Mueller, I; Hansen, DS; Schofield, L;
- Details
- Publication Year 2013,Volume 8,Issue #9,Page e74627
- Journal Title
- PLoS One
- Publication Type
- Journal Article
- Abstract
- Naturally acquired humoral immunity to the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum can protect against disease, although the precise mechanisms remain unclear. Although antibody levels can be measured by ELISA, few studies have investigated functional antibody assays in relation to clinical outcomes. In this study we applied a recently developed functional assay of antibody-mediated opsonisation of merozoites, to plasma samples from a longitudinal cohort study conducted in a malaria endemic region of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Phagocytic activity was quantified by flow cytometry using a standardized and high-throughput protocol, and was subsequently evaluated for association with protection from clinical malaria and high-density parasitemia. Opsonising antibody responses were found to: i) increase with age, ii) be enhanced by concurrent infection, and iii) correlate with protection from clinical episodes and high-density parasitemia. Stronger protective associations were observed in individuals with no detectable parasitemia at baseline. This study presents the first evidence for merozoite phagocytosis as a correlate of acquired immunity and clinical protection against P. falciparum malaria.
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science
- Keywords
- Malaria ; Merozoites ; Phagocytosis ; Antibody response ; Malarial parasites ; Plasmodium ; Antibodies ; Parasitic diseases
- Research Division(s)
- Infection And Immunity
- Publisher's Version
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074627
- Open Access at Publisher's Site
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3767630/- Terms of Use/Rights Notice
- Copyright: ß 2013 Hill et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Creation Date: 2013-01-01 12:00:00