Antibody response to Plasmodium vivax antigens in Fy-negative individuals from the Colombian Pacific coast

• Published in: The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 73; no. 5 Suppl; p. 44
• Main Authors: Herrera, Sócrates, Gómez, Andrés, Vera, Omaira, Vergara, Juana, Valderrama-Aguirre, Augusto, Maestre, Amanda, Méndez, Fabián, Wang, Ruobing, Chitnis, Chetan E, Yazdani, Syed S, Arévalo-Herrera, Myriam
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-11-2005
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Animals; Antibodies, Protozoan - blood; Antigens, Protozoan - immunology; Child; Colombia - epidemiology; Duffy Blood-Group System - metabolism; Erythrocytes - parasitology; Female; Humans; Malaria, Vivax - epidemiology; Malaria, Vivax - immunology; Male; Middle Aged; Plasmodium vivax - growth & development; Plasmodium vivax - immunology; Prevalence; Receptors, Cell Surface - metabolism; Rural Population; Sporozoites - immunology; Colombia
• ISSN: 0002-9637
• DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.2005.73.44

The Duffy antigen (Fy) is necessary for Plasmodium vivax invasion of human erythrocytes. Some populations have a highly prevalent Fy-negative phenotype; such persons are naturally protected from P. vivax blood infection but are expected to completely support the P. vivax pre-erythrocytic cycle, representing a valuable model for studying the immune response during these parasitic stages. We typed 214 individuals, mostly Afro-Colombians, from a P. vivax-endemic area for Fy expression and determined the antibody response to P. vivax pre-erythrocytic (sporozoites and CS) and blood-stage antigens (blood forms, P. vivax merozoite surface protein 1, and P. vivax Duffy binding protein [PvDBP]). Antibody titers to P. vivax circumsporozoite protein, P11, and N-terminal peptides and the number of responders were similar in Fy-negative and Fy-positive individuals. The number of responders to sporozoites, blood forms, and PvDBP were different between these groups. Thus, Fy-negative individuals from malaria-endemic areas can be used to study the immune response to the P. vivax liver phase without interference of the erythrocytic cycle.