title: Anti-Pfs25 human plasma reduces transmission of Plasmodium falciparum isolates that have diverse genetic backgrounds.
abstract: Pfs25 is a leading candidate for a malaria transmission-blocking vaccine whose potential has been demonstrated in a phase 1 trial with recombinant Pfs25 formulated with Montanide ISA51. Because of limited sequence polymorphism, the anti-Pfs25 antibodies induced by this vaccine are likely to have transmission-blocking or -reducing activity against most, if not all, field isolates. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated transmission-blocking activities by membrane feeding assay of anti-Pfs25 plasma from the Pfs25/ISA51 phase 1 trial against Plasmodium falciparum parasites from patients in two different geographical regions of the world, Thailand and Burkina Faso. In parallel, parasite isolates from these patients were sequenced for the Pfs25 gene and genotyped for seven microsatellites. The results indicate that despite different genetic backgrounds among parasite isolates, the Pfs25 sequences are highly conserved, with a single nonsynonymous nucleotide polymorphism detected in 1 of 41 patients in Thailand and Burkina Faso. The anti-Pfs25 immune plasma had significantly higher transmission-reducing activity against parasite isolates from the two geographical regions than the nonimmune controls (P < 0.0001).
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Dari F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Da
authors.forename: Saurabh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dixit
authors.forename: Jetsumon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sattabonkot
authors.forename: Jianbing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Abate
authors.forename: Bhanumati
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ramineni
authors.forename: Jean Bosco
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Ouedraogo
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Fay
authors.forename: Xin-zhuan
authors.initials: XZ
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cohuet
authors.forename: Yimin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000469:parasitology; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology*; D002050:Burkina Faso / Q000453:epidemiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology; D017780:Malaria Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission*; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D007106:Immune Sera; D017780:Malaria Vaccines; C071284:Pfs25 protein, Plasmodium falciparum; D015800:Protozoan Proteins