AJTMH HINARI
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 35(1), 1986, pp. 16-21
Copyright © 1986 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Collins, D. P.
Right arrow Articles by Deas, J. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Collins, D. P.
Right arrow Articles by Deas, J. E.

The Effects of Cortisone on Immunity During Chronic Rodent Malaria

Daniel P. Collins AND J. E. Deas
Department of Tropical Medicine and Medical Parasitology, Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112

The temporal effects were studied of a single dose of hydrocortisone acetate on the development and expression of immune responses to Plasmodium berghei in mice with chronic infections. Cortisone administration prior to primary infection reduced malaria-specific secondary humoral and cellular responses, as well as the ability to survive parasite challenge. Once protective humoral immunity was established after chemotherapy of primary infection, cortisone treatment did not disrupt its expression. Administration of cortisone during subpatent chronic infection resulted in a transient recrudescence of parasitemia not apparent in untreated mice. Clearance of recrudescence or parasite challenge was associated with a rapid cortisone-resistant antibody response. During subpatent chronic infection, malaria-specific antibody levels were reduced, whereas delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) to malaria antigens and heterologous antigens was well developed. At least two systems of immunity to malaria appear to be present during chronic infection. Recrudescence of parasitemia may be prevented by antibody-independent, cortisone-sensitive cellular immunity. Once parasitemia becomes overt after cortisone treatment, or parasites are reintroduced with challenge, cortisone-resistant humoral immunity appears to mediate parasite clearance. Regulation of these systems may be a dose-dependent phenomenon which results in the persistence of parasites, albeit at subpatent levels.

Accepted for publication September 4, 1985.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1986 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.