研究揭示惡性瘧原蟲跨季傳播原因
作者:
小柯機器人發布時間:2020/10/27 16:33:20
德國海德堡大學醫院Silvia Portugal團隊的一項最新研究顯示,惡性瘧原蟲的循環時間增加是乾旱季節持續無症狀感染的基礎。該項研究成果發表在2020年10月26日出版的《自然-醫學》雜誌上。
他們顯示低水平的惡性瘧原蟲寄生蟲在5至6個月的乾旱季節持續存在於無症狀馬裡人的血液中,幾乎不引起症狀,並且對宿主免疫反應的影響最小。在乾燥季節分離出的寄生蟲在轉錄上與在傳播季節患有高熱瘧疾的個體在轉錄上截然不同,這與寄生蟲性紅細胞的每個複製周期內更長的循環時間一致,而沒有粘附在血管內皮上。
乾旱季節的寄生蟲水平低並不是由於複製受損,而是由於循環較長的受感染紅細胞脾臟清除增加,這可能使寄生蟲病保持在臨床和免疫學雷達之下。他們建議對季節性瘧疾傳播地區的惡性瘧原蟲毒力進行調節,以使寄生蟲降低其內皮結合能力,從而增加脾臟清除率,並使亞臨床寄生蟲持久存在數月。
研究人員表示,在許多瘧疾流行地區,旱季是惡性瘧原蟲寄生蟲的主要挑戰,在該地區,水的可利用性僅將蚊媒傳播到一年的一部分。惡性瘧原蟲如何跨過兩個傳播季節,卻沒有被人類宿主清除或損害宿主生存,對此知之甚少。
附:英文原文
Title: Increased circulation time of Plasmodium falciparum underlies persistent asymptomatic infection in the dry season
Author: Carolina M. Andrade, Hannah Fleckenstein, Richard Thomson-Luque, Safiatou Doumbo, Nathalia F. Lima, Carrie Anderson, Julia Hibbert, Christine S. Hopp, Tuan M. Tran, Shanping Li, Moussa Niangaly, Hamidou Cisse, Didier Doumtabe, Jeff Skinner, Dan Sturdevant, Stacy Ricklefs, Kimmo Virtaneva, Muhammad Asghar, Manijeh Vafa Homann, Louise Turner, Joana Martins, Erik L. Allman, Marie-Esther NDri, Volker Winkler, Manuel Llins, Catherine Lavazec, Craig Martens, Anna Frnert, Kassoum Kayentao, Aissata Ongoiba, Thomas Lavstsen, Nuno S. Osrio, Thomas D. Otto, Mario Recker, Boubacar Traore, Peter D. Crompton, Silvia Portugal
Issue&Volume: 2020-10-26
Abstract: The dry season is a major challenge for Plasmodium falciparum parasites in many malaria endemic regions, where water availability limits mosquito vectors to only part of the year. How P. falciparum bridges two transmission seasons months apart, without being cleared by the human host or compromising host survival, is poorly understood. Here we show that low levels of P. falciparum parasites persist in the blood of asymptomatic Malian individuals during the 5- to 6-month dry season, rarely causing symptoms and minimally affecting the host immune response. Parasites isolated during the dry season are transcriptionally distinct from those of individuals with febrile malaria in the transmission season, coinciding with longer circulation within each replicative cycle of parasitized erythrocytes without adhering to the vascular endothelium. Low parasite levels during the dry season are not due to impaired replication but rather to increased splenic clearance of longer-circulating infected erythrocytes, which likely maintain parasitemias below clinical and immunological radar. We propose that P. falciparum virulence in areas of seasonal malaria transmission is regulated so that the parasite decreases its endothelial binding capacity, allowing increased splenic clearance and enabling several months of subclinical parasite persistence. Malaria cases are predominant during the rainy seasons in many endemic regions owing to the life cycle of the mosquito vector. How Plasmodium falciparum adapts in humans during the intervening dry season, without causing malaria symptoms or killing the host, offers new insights into its persistence in humans.
DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-1084-0
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-1084-0