The Plasmodium falciparum-specific human memory B cell compartment expands gradually with repeated malaria infections.
Immunity to Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) malaria is only acquired after years of repeated infections and wanes rapidly without ongoing parasite exposure. Antibodies are central to malaria immunity, yet little is known about the B-cell biology that underlies the inefficient acquisition of Pf-specific humoral immunity. This year-long prospective study in Mali of 185 individuals aged 2 to 25 years shows that Pf-specific memory B-cells and antibodies are acquired gradually in a stepwise fashion over years of repeated Pf exposure. Both Pf-specific memory B cells and antibody titers increased after acute malaria and then, after six months of decreased Pf exposure, contracted to a point slightly higher than pre-infection levels. This inefficient, stepwise expansion of both the Pf-specific memory B-cell and long-lived antibody compartments depends on Pf exposure rather than age, based on the comparator response to tetanus vaccination that was efficient and stable. These observations lend new insights into the cellular basis of the delayed acquisition of malaria immunity.
Weiss
Greta E
GE
Laboratory of Immunogenetics, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Traore
Boubacar
B
Kayentao
Kassoum
K
Ongoiba
Aissata
A
Doumbo
Safiatou
S
Doumtabe
Didier
D
Kone
Younoussou
Y
Dia
Seydou
S
Guindo
Agnes
A
Traore
Abdramane
A
Huang
Chiung-Yu
CY
Miura
Kazutoyo
K
Mircetic
Marko
M
Li
Shanping
S
Baughman
Amy
A
Narum
David L
DL
Miller
Louis H
LH
Doumbo
Ogobara K
OK
Pierce
Susan K
SK
Crompton
Peter D
PD
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007156:Immunologic Memory / Q000276:immunology*; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000276:immunology* / Q000635:transmission; D008297:Male; D008302:Mali; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D012621:Seasons; D055815:Young Adult
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D007074:Immunoglobulin G