Plasmodium vivax but Not Plasmodium falciparum Blood-Stage Infection in Humans Is Associated with the Expansion of a CD8+ T Cell Population with Cytotoxic Potential.

ABSTRACT: P. vivax and P. falciparum parasites display different tropism for host cells and induce very different clinical symptoms and pathology, suggesting that the immune responses required for protection may differ between these two species. However, no study has qualitatively compared the immune responses to P. falciparum or P. vivax in humans following primary exposure and infection. Here, we show that the two species differ in terms of the cellular immune responses elicited following primary infection. Specifically, P. vivax induced the expansion of a subset of CD8+ T cells expressing the activation marker CD38, whereas P. falciparum induced the expansion of CD38+ CD4+ T cells. The CD38+ CD8+ T cell population that expanded following P. vivax infection displayed greater cytotoxic potential co

SUBMITTER: Burel JG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5145136 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature