Institute of Immunology, Faculty of Health, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia.
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2011 Aug;106 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):202-11. doi: 10.1590/s0074-02762011000900025.
Malaria is a vector-borne disease that is considered to be one of the most serious public health problems due to its high global mortality and morbidity rates. Although multiple strategies for controlling malaria have been used, many have had limited impact due to the appearance and rapid dissemination of mosquito resistance to insecticides, parasite resistance to multiple antimalarial drug, and the lack of sustainability. Individuals in endemic areas that have been permanently exposed to the parasite develop specific immune responses capable of diminishing parasite burden and the clinical manifestations of the disease, including blocking of parasite transmission to the mosquito vector. This is referred to as transmission blocking (TB) immunity (TBI) and is mediated by specific antibodies and other factors ingested during the blood meal that inhibit parasite development in the mosquito. These antibodies recognize proteins expressed on either gametocytes or parasite stages that develop in the mosquito midgut and are considered to be potential malaria vaccine candidates. Although these candidates, collectively called TB vaccines (TBV), would not directly stop malaria from infecting individuals, but would stop transmission from infected person to non-infected person. Here, we review the progress that has been achieved in TBI studies and the development of TBV and we highlight their potential usefulness in areas of low endemicity such as Latin America.
疟疾是一种由蚊子传播的疾病，由于其高全球死亡率和发病率，被认为是最严重的公共卫生问题之一。尽管已经使用了多种控制疟疾的策略，但由于蚊子对杀虫剂的抗药性的出现和迅速传播、寄生虫对多种抗疟药物的抗药性以及缺乏可持续性，许多策略的影响都很有限。长期生活在流行地区的人会产生特定的免疫反应，这些反应能够减轻寄生虫负担和疾病的临床表现，包括阻止寄生虫向蚊子传播。这被称为传播阻断（TB）免疫（TBI），由在吸血时摄入的特定抗体和其他因子介导，这些因子可以抑制蚊子中的寄生虫发育。这些抗体识别配子体或在蚊子中肠发育的寄生虫阶段表达的蛋白质，被认为是潜在的疟疾疫苗候选物。尽管这些候选物统称为 TB 疫苗（TBV），但它们不会直接阻止疟疾感染个体，而是阻止感染者向未感染者传播。在这里，我们回顾了 TBI 研究和 TBV 发展方面取得的进展，并强调了它们在拉丁美洲等低流行地区的潜在用途。
