Asymptomatic infection in individuals from the municipality of Barcelos (Brazilian Amazon) is not associated with the anti-Plasmodium falciparum glycosylphosphatidylinositol antibody response

• Main Authors: Larissa Rodrigues Gomes, Paulo Renato Rivas Totino, Maria Carmen Arroyo Sanchez, Elsa Paula da Silva Kaingona Daniel, Cristiana Santos de Macedo, Filomeno Fortes, Jose Rodrigues Coura, Silvia Maria Di Santi, Guilherme Loureiro Werneck, Martha Cecilia Suarez-Mutis, Maria de Fatima Ferreira-da-Cruz, Claudio Tadeu Daniel-Ribeiro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 2013-09-01
• Series: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.
• Subjects: Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium vivax; glycosylphosphatidylinositol; asymptomatic infection; Brazilian Amazon; Angola
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762013000600796&lng=en&tlng=en

Anti-glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) antibodies (Abs) may reflect and mediate, at least partially, anti-disease immunity in malaria by neutralising the toxic effect of parasitic GPI. Thus, we assessed the anti-GPI Ab response in asymptomatic individuals living in an area of the Brazilian Amazon that has a high level of malaria transmission. For comparative purposes, we also investigated the Ab response to a crude extract prepared from Plasmodium falciparum, the merozoite surface protein (MSP)3 antigen of P. falciparum and the MSP 1 antigen of Plasmodium vivax (PvMSP1-19) in these individuals and in Angolan patients with acute malaria. Our data suggest that the Ab response against P. falciparum GPI is not associated with P. falciparum asymptomatic infection in individuals who have been chronically exposed to malaria in the Brazilian Amazon. However, this Ab response could be related to ongoing parasitaemia (as was previously shown) in the Angolan patients. In addition, our data show that PvMSP1-19may be a good marker antigen to reflect previous exposure to Plasmodium in areas that have a high transmission rate of P. vivax.