West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana; Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Cell Rep. 2024 Aug 27;43(8):114533. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114533. Epub 2024 Jul 24.
Ghana and other parts of West Africa have experienced lower COVID-19 mortality rates than other regions. This phenomenon has been hypothesized to be associated with previous exposure to infections such as malaria. This study investigated the immune response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the influence of previous malaria exposure. Blood samples were collected from individuals with asymptomatic or symptomatic COVID-19 (n = 217). A variety of assays were used to characterize the SARS-CoV-2-specific immune response, and malaria exposure was quantified using Plasmodium falciparum ELISA. The study found evidence of attenuated immune responses to COVID-19 among asymptomatic individuals, with elevated proportions of non-classical monocytes and greater memory B cell activation. Symptomatic patients displayed higher P. falciparum-specific T cell recall immune responses, whereas asymptomatic individuals demonstrated elevated P. falciparum antibody levels. Summarily, this study suggests that P. falciparum exposure-associated immune modulation may contribute to reduced severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection among people living in malaria-endemic regions.
加纳和西非其他地区的 COVID-19 死亡率低于其他地区。这种现象被假设与以前接触过疟疾等感染有关。本研究调查了对严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2) 的免疫反应以及以前疟疾暴露的影响。从无症状或有症状的 COVID-19 个体中采集了血液样本（n=217）。使用多种检测方法来描述 SARS-CoV-2 特异性免疫反应，并使用酶联免疫吸附试验 (ELISA) 来量化疟疾暴露。研究发现，无症状个体对 COVID-19 的免疫反应减弱，非经典单核细胞比例升高，记忆 B 细胞激活增强。有症状的患者表现出更高的疟原虫特异性 T 细胞回忆免疫反应，而无症状的个体则表现出更高的疟原虫抗体水平。总之，这项研究表明，疟原虫暴露相关的免疫调节可能导致疟疾流行地区的人感染 SARS-CoV-2 的严重程度降低。
