Gametocytes Adherence to Bone Marrow Endothelial Cells.

In a infection, it was shown a proportionally increased on gametocyte distribution within the bone marrow aspirant, suggesting a role of this organ as a reservoir for this parasite stage. Here, we evaluated the cytoadhesive capacity of gametocytes to bone marrow endothelial cells (HBMEC) and investigated the involvement of some receptors in the cytoadhesion process by using transfected CHO cells (CHO-ICAM1, CHO-CD36 and CHO-VCAM), wild type (CHO-K1) or deficient in heparan and chondroitin sulfate (CHO-745). cytoadhesion assays were performed using a total of 44  isolates enriched in gametocyte stages by Percoll gradient in the different cell lines. The majority of isolates (88.9%) were able to adhere to HBMEC monolayer. ICAM1 seemed to be the sole receptor significantly involved. CD-36 was the receptor with higher adhesion rate, despite no significance was noticed when compared to CHO-745. We demonstrated that gametocyte adheres to bone marrow endothelial cells. Moreover, gametocytes display the ability to adhere to all CHO cells investigated, especially to CHO-ICAM1. These findings bring insights to the comprehension of the role of the bone marrow as a reservoir and the potential impact on parasite transmission to the vector.