Changes in antigen-specific cytokine and chemokine responses to Plasmodium falciparum antigens in a highland area of Kenya after a prolonged absence of malaria exposure.

ABSTRACT: Individuals naturally exposed to Plasmodium falciparum lose clinical immunity after a prolonged lack of exposure. P. falciparum antigen-specific cytokine responses have been associated with protection from clinical malaria, but the longevity of P. falciparum antigen-specific cytokine responses in the absence of exposure is not well characterized. A highland area of Kenya with low and unstable malaria transmission provided an opportunity to study this question. The levels of antigen-specific cytokines and chemokines associated in previous studies with protection from clinical malaria (gamma interferon [IFN-γ], interleukin-10 [IL-10], and tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α]), with increased risk of clinical malaria (IL-6), or with pathogenesis of severe disease in malaria (IL-5 and RANTES) w

SUBMITTER: Ochola LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4187839 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature