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Neutralizing antibodies to glycosylphosphatidylinositols (GPIs), which are Plasmodium falciparum surface protein anchor molecules implicated in malaria pathogenesis, are thought to protect against symptomatic malaria. Index cases of severe malaria in Malian children 3 months to 14 years of age were matched by age and residence to uncomplicated malaria and healthy controls. Serum antibodies to GPI (IgM and IgG) were measured at the time of severe malaria and after the malaria transmission season. The mean optical density values for IgM and IgG antibodies were higher in children with severe or uncomplicated malaria compared with healthy controls. Similarly, higher percentages of children with IgM and IgG antibodies to GPI were observed in the severe malaria group compared with matched healthy controls. IgG antibody levels to GPI were highest among children with cerebral malaria and children who died. The IgG antibody levels to GPI peaked during periods of malaria transmission and decreased after malaria transmission ended. A direct correlation between age and parasitemia and IgG antibodies to GPI was observed. In summary, higher levels of IgM and IgG antibodies to GPI in young children were associated with disease severity and were short-lived.
Received September 9, 2005. Accepted for publication March 19, 2006.
Acknowledgments: We thank the Bandiagara Malaria Project staff and the people of Bandiagara, Mali for their support of this research.
Financial support: This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants N01-AI-85346, AI-41139, and K23-AI-49203 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a training grant (D43TW001589) from the Fogarty International Center.
* Address correspondence to Kirsten E. Lyke, Center for Vaccine Development, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 685 West Baltimore Street, HSF I 480, Baltimore, MD 21201. E-mail: Klyke{at}medicine.umaryland.edu
Authors addresses: Yacouba Cissoko, Modibo Daou, Alassane Dicko, Issa Diarra, Abdoulaye Kone, Ando Guindo, Karim Traore, Dapa A. Diallo, and Ogobara K. Doumbo, Malaria Research and Training Center, Department of Epidemiology of Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry, University of Bamako, BP 1805 Point G, Bamako, Mali, Fax 223-2-8109, E-mail: ycissoko{at}hotmail.com. Kirsten E. Lyke, Christopher V. Plowe, and Marcelo B. Sztein, Center for Vaccine Development, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 685 West Baltimore Street, HSF I 480, Baltimore, MD 21201, Fax 410-706-6205, E-mail: Klyke{at}medicine.umaryland.edu. Gowdahalli Krishnegowda and D. Channe Gowda, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, H171 Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA 17033, E-mail: gowda{at}psu.edu.
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