title: Response of sensitized and unsensitized human lymphocyte subpopulations to Plasmodium falciparum antigens.
abstract: Antigen preparations derived from Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes (but not from uninfected erythrocytes) can stimulate the in vitro proliferation of peripheral blood lymphocytes from malaria-sensitized as well as nonsensitized donors. The possibility that the nonspecific responses might be due to a parasite-derived B-cell mitogen has been previously suggested since polyclonal hypergammaglobulinemia is a frequent accompaniment of malaria infection. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the in vitro proliferative responses of purified T- and B-cell populations to malaria antigens. T but not B cells responded to the antigens. The addition of small numbers of T cells restored the ability of purified B cells to respond to lectin mitogens but not to malaria antigens. Falciparum malaria infection was associated with an increase in T-cell but not in B-cell proliferation in vivo, as assessed by the spontaneous tritiated thymidine incorporation of lymphocytes during a brief incubation in vitro. Our observations suggest that extracts of malaria parasites do not contain a B-cell mitogen but are antigenic as well as mitogenic for T cells.
mesh_terms: D000941:Antigens; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007223:Infant; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008211:Lymphocyte Cooperation; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D008288:Malaria / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology*; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell