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Infectivity of Plasmodium falciparum in Malaria-Naive Individuals Is Related to Knob Expression and Cytoadherence of

Danielle I Stanisic1, John Gerrard2, James Fink2

  • 1Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia.

Infection and Immunity
|July 7, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Knobless Plasmodium falciparum parasites showed reduced infectivity and adhesion. However, infection in humans restored these virulence factors, demonstrating the human environment

Area of Science:

  • Malariology
  • Parasitology
  • Human Infectious Diseases

Background:

  • Plasmodium falciparum causes severe malaria due to cytoadherence in blood vessels.
  • Knob expression, cytoadherence, and infectivity links are known in primates but unstudied in humans.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of knob expression and CD36 cytoadherence in human Plasmodium falciparum infection and virulence.
  • To determine if the human environment can restore virulence in knobless parasites.

Main Methods:

  • Characterization of cultured P. falciparum parasites (NF54, 7G8, 3D7B) for knob expression, CD36 adhesion, and antibody recognition.
  • Administration of parasites to malaria-naive human volunteers to assess infectivity.
  • In vitro analysis of infected volunteers' blood to monitor parasite characteristics.

Main Results:

  • All parasites were infective in vivo, but NF54 showed significantly reduced infectivity.
  • NF54 parasites lacked knobs and CD36 cytoadherence in vitro, yet were recognized by immune sera.
  • Infection with NF54 in volunteers restored knob expression and CD36-mediated cytoadherence.

Conclusions:

  • Knobless P. falciparum exhibits reduced infectivity and adhesion.
  • The human host environment can restore virulence factors like knob expression and cytoadherence in P. falciparum.
  • This study highlights the dynamic interplay between parasite virulence and the human host.

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