Kyei-Baafour Eric, Kusi Kwadwo Asamoah, Owusu-Yeboa Eunice, Issahaque Quratul-Ain, Kumordjie Selassie, Authur Fareed K N, Dwomoh Duah, Singh Susheel Kumar, Dodoo Daniel, Theisen Michael, Adu Bright
Department of Immunology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, College of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Int J Infect Dis. 2025 Apr;153:107804. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2025.107804. Epub 2025 Jan 29.
Naturally acquired immunity to malaria results from repeated infection with Plasmodium parasites. However, identifying immune correlates of immunity against febrile malaria is quite challenging. Here we investigated antigenic targets of malaria protective antibodies in populations residing a malaria transmission hotspot in southern Ghana.
We enrolled 973 children, aged 6 months to 12 years, in southern Ghana out of which 211 were infected at least once with Plasmodium falciparum in a 50-week longitudinal cohort study. Total IgG levels in baseline plasma samples were determined using indirect ELISA.
We found a significant association between higher IgG levels to MSP3 (adjusted P-value [aP] = 0.0002), GLURP-R2 (aP = 0.0026), MSP DBL2 (aP = 0.004) and N-MSP3 (aP = 0.002), and protection from febrile malaria. A negative association between higher antibody levels to MSP3, GMZ2, GLURP-R2 and MSPDBL2 and parasite density was also observed. Wider antibody breadth was associated with protection against febrile malaria and single, compared to multiple malaria episodes.
Specific antibody levels and breadth of responses against multiple P. falciparum surface antigens protect against febrile malaria, parasitaemia and multiple malaria episodes. This data supports the development of multivalent vaccines targeting P. falciparum surface antigens in high malaria endemic settings.
对疟疾的自然获得性免疫源于对疟原虫的反复感染。然而，确定针对发热性疟疾免疫的免疫相关因素颇具挑战性。在此，我们调查了居住在加纳南部疟疾传播热点地区人群中疟疾保护性抗体的抗原靶点。
我们在加纳南部招募了973名6个月至12岁的儿童，在一项为期50周的纵向队列研究中，其中211人至少感染过一次恶性疟原虫。使用间接ELISA法测定基线血浆样本中的总IgG水平。
我们发现，与MSP3（校正P值[aP]=0.0002）、GLURP-R2（aP=0.0026）、MSP DBL2（aP=0.004）和N-MSP3（aP=0.002）的IgG水平较高与预防发热性疟疾之间存在显著关联。还观察到，针对MSP3、GMZ2、GLURP-R2和MSPDBL2的抗体水平较高与寄生虫密度之间呈负相关。与多个疟疾发作相比，更广泛的抗体广度与预防发热性疟疾和单次疟疾发作相关。
针对多种恶性疟原虫表面抗原的特异性抗体水平和反应广度可预防发热性疟疾、寄生虫血症和多次疟疾发作。该数据支持在高疟疾流行地区开发针对恶性疟原虫表面抗原的多价疫苗。
