Stability of interferon-gamma and interleukin-10 responses to Plasmodium falciparum liver stage antigen 1 and thrombospondin-related adhesive protein immunodominant epitopes in a highland population from Western Kenya

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2009 Sep;81(3):489-95.

Abstract

Long-term planning to prevent malaria epidemics requires in-depth understanding of immunity to Plasmodium falciparum in areas of unstable transmission. Cytokine responses to immunodominant epitope peptides from liver stage antigen 1 (LSA-1) and thrombospondin-related adhesive protein (TRAP) were evaluated over a nine-month interval in adults and children in Kenya from a malaria epidemic-prone highland area after several years of low transmission. The proportion and magnitude of interferon-gamma ELISPOT responses and the proportion of interleukin-10 responders to LSA-1 and TRAP peptides tended to be higher in adults than children. Frequencies of interferon-gamma responders to these peptides were similar at the two time points, but responses were not consistently generated by the same persons. These results suggest that T cell memory to pre-erythrocytic stage malaria antigens is maintained but may be unavailable for consistent detection in peripheral blood, and that these antigens induce both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine responses in this population.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Animals
  • Antigens, Protozoan / immunology*
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Gene Expression Regulation / immunology
  • Humans
  • Immunodominant Epitopes / immunology
  • Interferon-gamma / metabolism*
  • Interleukin-10 / metabolism*
  • Kenya / epidemiology
  • Leukocytes, Mononuclear / cytology
  • Leukocytes, Mononuclear / metabolism
  • Malaria, Falciparum / epidemiology
  • Malaria, Falciparum / immunology*
  • Parasitemia / epidemiology
  • Plasmodium falciparum / immunology*
  • Prevalence
  • Protozoan Proteins / immunology*
  • Time Factors
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antigens, Protozoan
  • Immunodominant Epitopes
  • Protozoan Proteins
  • liver stage-specific antigen, Plasmodium
  • thrombospondin-related adhesive protein, protozoan
  • Interleukin-10
  • Interferon-gamma