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ABSTRACT: Background
In holoendemic areas, children suffer the most from Plasmodium falciparum malaria, yet newborns and young infants express a relative resistance to both infection and severe malarial disease (SM). This relative resistance has been ascribed to maternally-derived anti-parasite immunoglobulin G; however, the targets of these protective antibodies remain elusive.Methods
We enrolled 647 newborns at birth from a malaria-holoendemic region of Tanzania. We collected cord blood, measured antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum Schizont Egress Antigen-1 (PfSEA-1), and related these antibodies to the risk of severe malaria in the first year of life. In addition, we vaccinated female mice with PbSEA-1, mated them, and challenged their pups with P. berghei ANKA parasites to assess the impact of maternal PbSEA-1 vaccination on newborns' resistance to malaria.Results
Children with high cord-blood anti-PfSEA-1 antibody levels had 51.4% fewer cases of SM compared to individuals with lower anti-PfSEA-1 levels over 12 months of follow-up (P = .03). In 3 trials, pups born to PbSEA-1-vaccinated dams had significantly lower parasitemia and longer survival following a P. berghei challenge compared to pups born to control dams.Conclusions
We demonstrate that maternally-derived, cord-blood anti-PfSEA-1 antibodies predict decreased risk of SM in infants and vaccination of mice with PbSEA-1 prior to pregnancy protects their offspring from lethal P. berghei challenge. These results identify, for the first time, a parasite-specific target of maternal antibodies that protect infants from SM and suggest that vaccination of pregnant women with PfSEA-1 may afford a survival advantage to their offspring.
SUBMITTER: Kurtis JD
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6938209 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Kurtis Jonathan D JD Raj Dipak K DK Michelow Ian C IC Park Sangshin S Nixon Christina E CE McDonald Emily A EA Nixon Christian P CP Pond-Tor Sunthorn S Jha Ambrish A Taliano Ross J RJ Kabyemela Edward R ER Friedman Jennifer F JF Duffy Patrick E PE Fried Michal M
Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 20190501 10
<h4>Background</h4>In holoendemic areas, children suffer the most from Plasmodium falciparum malaria, yet newborns and young infants express a relative resistance to both infection and severe malarial disease (SM). This relative resistance has been ascribed to maternally-derived anti-parasite immunoglobulin G; however, the targets of these protective antibodies remain elusive.<h4>Methods</h4>We enrolled 647 newborns at birth from a malaria-holoendemic region of Tanzania. We collected cord blood, ...[more]