Immunofluorescence and the measurement of immune response to hyperendemic malaria.
01 Jul 1965-Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (No longer published by Elsevier)-Vol. 59, Iss: 4, pp 395-414
About: This article is published in Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.The article was published on 1965-07-01. It has received 47 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Malaria.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: The incidence of placental malaria at parturition and its effects on the conceptus have been investigated in The Gambia and the widely prevalent view that pregnancy exacerbates maternal malaria by attenuating acquired immunity is discussed.
Abstract: The incidence of placental malaria at parturition and its effects on the conceptus have been investigated in The Gambia, West Africa. Malarious placentae occurred in 1300 (20.2%) of 6427 singleton births, in 32 (18.6%) of 172 sets of twins and in none of six sets of triplets. Plasmodium falciparum infections predominated; P. malariae or P. ovale infections were found in only nine instances. In the large group of single births placental malaria occurred less frequently (12.0%) in residents of urban than of other, more rural, communities (27.1%). In the former group incidence showed no clear change with season; in the latter group it was highest in the trimester following the end of the rains and lowest in the second half of the dry season. In both residential groups it was more frequent in primiparae (urban 16.1%; other 46.9%) than in multiparae (urban 8.9%; other 20.3%). The sex of the child did not influence malaria incidence. Dense placental infections were more frequent in primiparae. Stillbirth rates of singleton infants were significantly higher for males than for females, but no clear and consistent relationship between stillbirth and placental malaria was detected. Mean singleton birthweights were depressed by about 170 g in the presence of malaria; the deficits were statistically significant only among first born infants and tended to diminish progressively with increasing maternal parity. No distinct gradient linking birthweight with ascending density of placental parasitaemia was observed. Singleton birthweights of 2.5 kg or less occurred more frequently in association with malarious than non-malarious placentae and the association was more marked among first born than later birth rank infants. Differences between the weights of malarious and non-malarious placentae were small and not significant. The findings of the study are discussed in relation to the widely prevalent view that pregnancy exacerbates maternal malaria by attenuating acquired immunity.
425 citations
TL;DR: The frequency of malaria parasitemia and the density of infection were higher in pregnant women than the same women prior to pregnancy or in the nonpregnant women.
Abstract: Physicians at University College Hospital in Ibadan Nigeria selected 250 initially unmarried 17-25 year old women employed at the hospital as subjects of a prospective study of the relationship between malaria anemia and 1st pregnancy. 60 women later became pregnant. Physicians gave full physical examination to each of the 250 women which included urine analysis determination of liver and spleen size and a variety of hematologic tests such as packed cell volume (PCV) and blood film for malaria parasites. The frequency of malaria parasitemia and the density of infection were higher in pregnant women (4-12 times more frequent and 1775 parasites/cubic mm respectively) than the same women prior to pregnancy or in the nonpregnant women. Plasmodium falciparum caused infection in almost all cases with P. malariae being responsible for only 4 cases. The incidence of splenomegaly was much higher in the group of pregnant women (42%) than found in the same women before pregnancy. 38 women did not take antimalaria chemoprophylaxis until that point in pregnancy when treatment was necessary and 24 (63%) of them developed hemolytic anemia (PCV <28%). On the other hand none of the 19 women who received antimalarial drugs developed hemolytic anemia but 1 did develop megaloblastic anemia in the 18th week. The hemolytic anemia occurred between weeks 16-24. In some cases PCV fell before the appearance of detectable parasite densities and hemolysis continued for 2 weeks after chloroquine therapy effectively eliminated parasites. In a country where malaria is endemic administering antimalarial drugs prophylactically throughout pregnancy is the most important antenatal treatment.
220 citations
TL;DR: To test the hypothesis that β thalassaemia carriers aged 6–18 months might be at an advantage when passive immunity to P. falciparum is waning but active immunity is not fully established and mortality from malaria is high, a modification of the in vitro culture system is used.
Abstract: HIGH gene frequencies for the sickling disorders and β thalassaemia may be due to the relative protection against Plasmodium falciparum malaria which has been afforded to heterozygous carriers1. In sickling disorders the properties of the abnormal haemoglobin may be responsible for this phenomenon2–4 but the red cells of adult β thalassaemia heterozygotes contain reduced amounts of normal haemoglobin5 and are indistinguishable from normal red cells with respect to the rates of invasion and growth of P. falciparum (G.P., D.J.W. and R.J.M., in preparation). Hence it is not clear how the β thalassaemia polymorphism has been maintained. There is a possible explanation, however. At birth red cells contain mainly foetal haemoglobin (Hb F); adult haemoglobin (Hb A) replaces Hb F during the first year of life. The rate of decline of Hb F production during this period is retarded in infants heterozygous for β thalassaemia as compared with normal infants6. If the presence of Hb F were to protect red cells against P. falciparum, β thalassaemia carriers aged 6–18 months might be at an advantage when passive immunity to P. falciparum is waning but active immunity is not fully established and mortality from malaria is high7. To test this hypothesis we have compared the rates of invasion and growth of P. falciparum in red cells containing Hb A with those containing Hb F using a modification of the in vitro culture system8–10.
172 citations
TL;DR: Serum samples from 158 West Africans were tested for antibodies against sporozoites, the vector stage of the malaria parasite, and more than 90 percent of the serum samples from adults gave positive immunofluorescent reactions against falciparum sporozoite reactions.
Abstract: Serum samples from 158 West Africans were tested for antibodies against sporozoites, the vector stage of the malaria parasite. Antibodies specific for Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites were detected by means of the circumsporozoite precipitation assay and indirect immunofluorescence. More than 90 percent of the serum samples from adults gave positive immunofluorescent reactions against falciparum sporozoites, whereas most of the samples from children gave low or negative reactions.
133 citations
TL;DR: In reviewing the epidemiology and consequences of maternal malaria, possible immunological and molecular basis that could account for the higher impact of malaria in pregnancy especially among primigravidae are highlighted and could be the basis for future research and vaccine formulation.
100 citations
References
More filters
1,340 citations
TL;DR: An important part of the resistance to disease with which an adult mammal is equipped is due to the production of circulating antibodies, molecules of soluble protein adapted to react specifically with foreign substances that have got into the system and induced their formation.
Abstract: I . INTRODUCTION (I) Nature and production of antibodies An important part of the resistance to disease with which an adult mammal is equipped is due to the production of circulating antibodies. These are molecules of soluble protein adapted to react specifically with foreign substances, known as antigens, that have got into the system and induced their formation. Invasive organisms, or organic materials, such as red blood corpuscles from another animal, gaining access to the system by injection or other means, may act as antigens. Antibodies are in the globulin fraction of the serum proteins of the blood, as a rule mainly in the y-globulins, though sometimes also in the other fractions of the globulins. These fractions of the serum proteins can be separated and characterized by physical and chemical means; notably by electrophoresis, depending on the characteristic speed with which they migrate in an electrical field, by ultracentrifugation, by fractional precipitation, or by chromatographic separation. Even in the purest preparations so obtained from highly immune sera, a given antibody usually constitutes only a part, sometimes a small part, of the globulin. The globulins are large protein molecules and those in the ultracentrifugal fractions containing antibodies have molecular weights either around I 60,000 or near
297 citations
TL;DR: Investigations into the incidence and degree of malarial infection in 551 African parturient women in Lagos an urban and semi urban area of Southern Nigeria and their newborn infants revealed that acute malaria can be incriminated as the cause of death in 9% of infants in 14% of children aged 1-4 years in 9%, children aged 5-7 years in 4% of older children and in 2% of adolescents.
Abstract: 2 series of investigations into the incidence and degree of malarial infection in 551 African parturient women in Lagos an urban and semi urban area of Southern Nigeria and their newborn infants were carried out during 1948-50. The routine technique of the investigation consisted of taking blood slides from the peripheral circulation of the mother and her newborn within 6-24 hours of delivery. A blood slide was made from a deep layer of a piece of the maternal placenta excised near the center. The weight of all newborn infants was recorded and whenever possible the progress of the infants was followed up throughout the neonatal period. The weight of all newborn infants was recorded and whenever possible the progress of the infants was followed up throughout the neonatal period. The mean incidence of malarial parasitaemia (mainly due to Plasmodium falciparum) in the sample of 323 Africa parturient women was found to be 33% somewhat higher than the usual parasite rate of the adult indigenous population. The incidence of malarial infection of the placenta was 23.8%. There were no cases of congenital malaria in 332 babies born of these mothers. The mean weight at birth of 237 babies born of mothers whose placentae were noninfected was 145 mg higher than that of 73 babies born of mothers whose placentae were found to be infected. The difference was statistically significant. There was no apparent correlation between neonatal mortality and infection of the placenta. Periodic investigation of a sample of 138 African infants followed up from the age of about 1 month through the 1st year of life and through part of the 2nd year showed that the mean parasite rate due principally to P. falciparum increased from 2.2% during the 1st quarter year to 20% in the 2nd quarter to 60-70% during the 3rd and 4th quarters and to over 80% thereafter. The infection rate when calculated in relation to the known length of exposure to infection shows that an equally long exposure leads to different frequencies of infection in the various age groups of the sample of infants investigated and that in the age group 1-3 months the parasite rate was significantly lower than might have been expected. Periodic follow-up of the mean weight curves of infection and noninfected infants indicated that the curves of both groups showed a considerable flattening out at about 5 months of age and later and that the flattening out is more pronounced in the infected group than in the noninfected. Records of 3540 autopsies performed upon children in Lagos during the years 1933-50 revealed that acute malaria can be incriminated as the cause of death in 9% of infants in 14% of children aged 1-4 years in 9% of children aged 5-7 years in 4% of older children and in 2% of adolescents. The number of deaths due to direct effects of malaria in the Nigerian population under 15 years of age amount to 35000/annum.
284 citations
TL;DR: (1955b).
Abstract: (1955b). Neural Control of the Pituitary Gland, p. 150. Arnold, London. Hartman, F. A., and Brownell, K. A. (1930). Science, 72, 76. Hays, E. H., and White, W. F. (1954). Recent Progr. Hormone Res., 10, 265. Hechter, O., Jacobsen, R. P., Jeanloz, R. W., Levy, H., Marshall, C. W., Pincus, G., and Schenker, V. (1950). Arch. Biochem., 25, 457. Hellman, L., Bradlow, H. L., Adesman, J., Fukushima, D. K., Kulp, J. L., and Gallagher, T. F. (1954). J. din. Invest., 33. 1106. Henriques, S. B., Henriques, 0. B., and Selye, H. (1949). Endocrinology, 45, 153. Hill, R. T. (1948). Ibid., 42, 339. Hill, S. R., Reiss, R. J.. Forsham, P. H., and Thorn, G. W. (1950). J.
201 citations