Wilson R J, Pasvol G, Weatherall D J
Bull World Health Organ. 1977;55(2-3):179-86.
The susceptibility of human red blood cells to invasion by Plasmodium falciparum was investigated in microtissue cultures with different populations of erythrocytes containing fetal haemoglobin (HbF). Preferential invasion of HbF-containing erythrocytes was observed with umbilical cord blood. The parasites showed no preference for HbF cells in blood from a subject with hereditary persistence of fetal haemoglobin (HPFH). By contrast, a significant preference for HbA-containing erythrocytes was found with blood from young infants. Further experiments demonstrated that falciparum parasites preferentially invade "young" erythrocytes. This could explain the distribution of parasites found in blood containing HbF, because HbF-containing erythrocytes are "younger" on average in cord blood, "older" in the blood of infants, and of the same average age as HbA-containing cells in HPFH. We concluded that the susceptibility of human erythrocytes to invasion by P. falciparum is not correlated with the presence of HbF, but that aging of red cells in vivo decreases their susceptibility to invasion. Semi-quantitative measurements were made of parasite growth in cells containing HbA or HbF. The growth of individual parasites in cells containing HbF was significantly retarded. This might confer a selective advantage on individuals with thalassaemia and sickle cell trait, in which HbF levels are raised in early life.
在含有不同比例胎儿血红蛋白（HbF）的红细胞群体的微组织培养中，研究了人类红细胞对恶性疟原虫侵袭的易感性。观察到脐带血中含有HbF的红细胞更容易被侵袭。在患有遗传性胎儿血红蛋白持续存在（HPFH）的受试者血液中，疟原虫对含HbF的细胞没有偏好。相比之下，在幼儿血液中发现疟原虫对含HbA的红细胞有明显偏好。进一步的实验表明，恶性疟原虫优先侵袭“年轻”红细胞。这可以解释在含有HbF的血液中发现的疟原虫分布情况，因为含HbF的红细胞在脐带血中平均“更年轻”，在婴儿血液中“更老”，并且在HPFH中与含HbA的细胞平均年龄相同。我们得出结论，人类红细胞对恶性疟原虫侵袭的易感性与HbF的存在无关，而是体内红细胞的老化会降低它们被侵袭的易感性。对含有HbA或HbF的细胞中的疟原虫生长进行了半定量测量。在含有HbF的细胞中，单个疟原虫的生长明显受到抑制。这可能会给地中海贫血和镰状细胞性状个体带来选择性优势，因为在这些个体的早期生命中HbF水平会升高。
