title: Age-dependent enhancement of IFN-gamma responses to Plasmodium falciparum liver stage antigen-1 T cell epitopes.
abstract: We assessed the cellular immunological responses to two Plasmodium falciparum liver-stage antigen (LSA)-1-derived T-cell epitopes in healthy Gabonese children and adults. The N-terminal peptide, designated T1, induced interferon (IFN)-gamma production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from a significantly lower proportion of children compared to adults, but both interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-12 were produced by similar proportions of PBMC from the two groups. The LSA-1 junction region peptide (LSA-J) also induced IFN-gamma in a lower, but in this case statistically non-significant, proportion of PBMC from children compared to adults, whilst the proportions producing either IL-10 or IL-12 were again similar. Higher amounts of both IFN-gamma and IL-10 were induced by LSA-J compared to T1. CD8+ T-cells were shown to be primarily responsible for the production of peptide-driven IFN-gamma. The results suggest a significant age-related increase in the proportion of individuals capable of producing IFN-gamma to the N-terminal T1 epitope, with a shift from a predominantly IL-10-led response in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bongartz
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rezbach
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Borrmann
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Hollingdale
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Kremsner
authors.forename: Adrian J F
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Luty
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology*; D018956:CD5 Antigens / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000032:analysis; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D018956:CD5 Antigens; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; C067302:liver stage-specific antigen, Plasmodium; D016753:Interleukin-10; D018664:Interleukin-12; D007371:Interferon-gamma