Antibodies to the 4-mer repeat of the ring-infected erythrocyte surface antigen (Pf155/RESA) protect against Plasmodium falciparum malaria

• Published in: International journal of epidemiology Vol. 23; no. 1; p. 169
• Main Authors: Astagneau, P, Chougnet, C, Lepers, J P, Danielle, M, Andriamangatiana-Rason, M D, Deloron, P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01-02-1994
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Antibodies, Protozoan - biosynthesis; Antibodies, Protozoan - isolation & purification; Antigens, Protozoan - chemistry; Antigens, Protozoan - immunology; Antigens, Surface - chemistry; Antigens, Surface - immunology; Child; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Epitopes - chemistry; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Incidence; Infant; Madagascar - epidemiology; Malaria, Falciparum - epidemiology; Malaria, Falciparum - immunology; Molecular Sequence Data; Plasmodium falciparum - immunology; Prevalence; Protozoan Proteins - chemistry; Protozoan Proteins - immunology; Madagascar
• ISSN: 0300-5771
• DOI: 10.1093/ije/23.1.169

To investigate the protective role of antibodies to the ring-infected erythrocyte surface antigen (Pf155/RESA) epitopes against Plasmodium falciparum clinical malaria, a cohort study was conducted in a Malagasy village over 7 months. In the 304 individuals included, 127 experienced P. falciparum attacks of under 1500 parasites/microliters with no clinical symptoms (protected individuals) and 177 experienced at least one clinical or preclinical P. falciparum attack requiring therapy (unprotected individuals). Antibodies to whole Pf155/RESA, to single epitopes of the 3' terminus, (EENV)4 and EENVEHDA(EENV)2 had higher responses in protected than in unprotected individuals (P = 0.006, P = 0.005, P = 0.05 respectively). Within the whole pattern of antibodies to the Pf155/RESA epitopes, only anti-R4 was related to protection independently of age and anti-wR. The Pf155/RESA 4-mer repeated epitope might be of interest for inclusion in a vaccine against the asexual blood stages of P. falciparum.