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A malaria serological map indicating the intersection between parasite antigenic diversity and host antibody repertoires

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Abstract

A malaria vaccine targeting Plasmodium falciparum remains a strategic goal for malaria control. If a polyvalent vaccine is to be developed, its subunits would probably be chosen based on immunogenicity (concentration of elicited antibodies) and associations of selected antigens with protection. We propose an additional possible selection criterion for the inclusion of subunit antigens; that is, coordination between elicited antibodies. For the quantitative estimation of this coordination, we developed a malaria serological map (MSM). Construction of the MSM was based on three categories of variables: (i) malaria antigens, (ii) total IgG and IgG subclasses, (iii) different sources of plasma. To validate the MSM, in this study, we used four malaria antigens (AMA1, MSP2-3D7, MSP2-FC27 and Pf332-C231) and re-grouped the plasma samples into five pairs of subsets based on age, gender, residence, HbAS and malaria morbidity in 9 years. The plasma total IgG and IgG subclasses to the test antigens were measured, and the whole material was used for the MSM construction. Most of the variables in the MSM were previously tested and their associations with malaria morbidity are known. The coordination of response to each antigens pair in the MSM was quantified as the correlation rate (CR = overall number of significant correlations/total number of correlations × 100 %). Unexpectedly, the results showed that low CRs were mostly associated with variables linked with malaria protection and the antigen eliciting the least CRs was the one associated with protection. The MSM is, thus, of potential value for vaccine design and understanding of malaria natural immunity.

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Acknowledgement

We are thankful to the donors from Daraweesh and Kajara villages in Eastern Sudan. The Daraweesh Project was built on several short- and long-term projects which received funds from several bodies, principally, DANIDA and TDR/WHO from 1990 to 2004. Riad Bayoumi, Thor Theander, Lars Hviid and David Arnot were the principal founders of the project. The current study was supported by grants to M.T.-B. and K.B. from the Swedish Agency for Research Development with Developing Countries/Sida/SAREC), the Swedish Medical Research Council and grants within the BioMalPar European Network of Excellence (LSMP-CT-2004-503578). Professor Robin Anders, La Trobe University, Australia, is acknowledged for the kind supply of the MSP2-3D7 and MSP2-FC27 antigens and AMA-1 recombinant antigens. Ms. Halima Balogun, Stockholm University, Sweden, is acknowledged for the kind supply of the recombinant Pf332-C231 antigen.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University (AGU), P.O. Box 26671, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain

    H. A. Giha

  2. Malaria Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

    H. A. Giha & G. ElGhazali

  3. Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Al-Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan

    A. A. Nasr

  4. Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia

    A. A. Nasr

  5. Tropical Diseases Research Laboratory, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria

    N. C. Iriemenam

  6. Department of Immunology, Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    A. A. Nasr, N. C. Iriemenam, K. Berzins & M. Troye-Blomberg

  7. Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK

    D. E. Arnot

  8. Faculty of Medicine, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    G. ElGhazali

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  1. H. A. Giha
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  2. A. A. Nasr
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  3. N. C. Iriemenam
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  4. K. Berzins
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  5. M. Troye-Blomberg
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Correspondence to H. A. Giha.

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Giha, H.A., Nasr, A.A., Iriemenam, N.C. et al. A malaria serological map indicating the intersection between parasite antigenic diversity and host antibody repertoires. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 31, 3117–3125 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-012-1673-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-012-1673-z

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