In vitro growth of Plasmodium falciparum in neonatal blood

Malaria Journal

Research

Elianne N Feugap¹  Yabo J Honkpehedji¹  Jean-Rodolphe Mackanga¹  Benjamin Mordmüller²  Peter G Kremsner²  Ghyslain Mombo Ngoma²  Ayôla A Adgenika³  Marguerite M Loembe⁴  Ulrich Sauerzopf⁵  Felix Lötsch⁵  Michael Ramharter⁶ 

[1] Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Lambaréné, Gabon;Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Lambaréné, Gabon;Institut für Tropenmedizin, Universität Tübingen, Wilhelmstraße 27, 72074, Tübingen, Germany;Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Lambaréné, Gabon;Institut für Tropenmedizin, Universität Tübingen, Wilhelmstraße 27, 72074, Tübingen, Germany;Department of Parasitology, Leiden Medical University Center, Leiden, The Netherlands;Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Lambaréné, Gabon;Institut für Tropenmedizin, Universität Tübingen, Wilhelmstraße 27, 72074, Tübingen, Germany;Faculté de Médecine et des Sciences de la Santé, Université Omar Bongo, Libreville, Gabon;Department of Medicine I, Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria;Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Lambaréné, Gabon;Department of Medicine I, Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria;Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Lambaréné, Gabon;Institut für Tropenmedizin, Universität Tübingen, Wilhelmstraße 27, 72074, Tübingen, Germany;

关键词: Plasmodium falciparum;    Neonatal haemoglobin;    Malaria;    Histidine-rich protein 2;    Immune plasma;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-13-436

 received in 2014-08-10, accepted in 2014-11-03,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundChildren below the age of six months suffer less often from malaria than older children in sub-Saharan Africa. This observation is commonly attributed to the persistence of foetal haemoglobin (HbF), which is considered not to permit growth of Plasmodium falciparum and therefore providing protection against malaria. Since this concept has recently been challenged, this study evaluated the effect of HbF erythrocytes and maternal plasma on in vitro parasite growth of P. falciparum in Central African Gabon.MethodsUmbilical cord blood and peripheral maternal blood were collected at delivery at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Gabon. Respective erythrocyte suspension and plasma were used in parallel for in vitro culture. In vitro growth rates were compared between cultures supplemented with either maternal or cord erythrocytes. Plasma of maternal blood and cord blood was evaluated. Parasite growth rates were assessed by the standard HRP2-assay evaluating the increase of HRP2 concentration in Plasmodium culture.ResultsCulture of P. falciparum using foetal erythrocytes led to comparable growth rates (mean growth rate = 4.2, 95% CI: 3.5 – 5.0) as cultures with maternal red blood cells (mean growth rate =4.2, 95% CI: 3.4 – 5.0) and those from non-malaria exposed individuals (mean growth rate = 4.6, 95% CI: 3.8 – 5.5). Standard in vitro culture of P. falciparum supplemented with either maternal or foetal plasma showed both significantly lower growth rates than a positive control using non-malaria exposed donor plasma.ConclusionsThese data challenge the concept of HbF serving as intrinsic inhibitor of P. falciparum growth in the first months of life. Erythrocytes containing HbF are equally permissive to P. falciparum growth in vitro. However, addition of maternal and cord plasma led to reduced in vitro growth which may translate to protection against clinical disease or show synergistic effects with HbF in vivo. Further studies are needed to elucidate the pathophysiology of innate and acquired protection against neonatal malaria.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Sauerzopf et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.