Abstract

BACKGROUND:

The transcriptome of Plasmodium falciparum clinical isolates varies according to strain, mosquito bites, disease severity and clinical history. Therefore, it remains a challenge to directly interpret the parasite’s transcriptomic information into a more general biological signature in a natural human malaria infection. These confounding variations can be potentially overcome with parasites derived from controlled-human malaria infection (CHMI) studies.

METHODS:

We performed CHMI studies in healthy and immunologically naïve volunteers receiving the same P. falciparum strain ((Sanaria® PfSPZ Challenge (NF54)), but with different sporozoite dosage and route of infection. Parasites isolated from these volunteers at the day of patency |

Abstract

The rapid and accurate diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum malaria infection is an essential factor in malaria control. Currently, malaria diagnosis in the field depends heavily on using rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) many of which detect circulating parasite-derived histidine-rich protein 2 antigen (PfHRP2) in capillary blood. P. falciparum strains lacking PfHRP2, due to pfhrp2 gene deletions, are an emerging threat to malaria control programs. The novel assay described here, named qHRP2/3-del, is well suited for high-throughput screening of P. falciparum isolates to identify these gene deletions. The qHRP2/3-del assay identified pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 deletion status correctly in 93.4% of samples |

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

We assessed the impact of exposure to P. falciparum on parasite kinetics, clinical symptoms, and functional immunity after controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) in two cohorts with different levels of previous malarial exposure.

METHODS:

Nine adult males with high (sero-high) and ten with low (sero-low) previous exposure received 3200 PfSPZ of PfSPZ Challenge by direct venous inoculation and were followed for 35 days for parasitemia by thick blood smear (TBS) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). End points were time to parasitemia, adverse events and immune responses.

RESULTS:

Ten of Ten (100%) volunteers in the sero-low and 7 |

Abstract

The pathogenesis of Plasmodium falciparum malaria is linked to the variant surface antigen PfEMP1, which mediates tethering of infected erythrocytes to the host endothelium and is encoded by approximately 60 var genes per parasite genome. Repeated episodes of malaria infection result in the gradual acquisition of protective antibodies against PfEMP1 variants. The antibody repertoire is believed to provide a selective pressure driving the clonal expansion of parasites expressing unrecognized PfEMP1 variants, however, due to the lack of experimental in vivo models there is only limited experimental evidence in support of this concept. To get insight into the impact of |

Abstract

18S rRNA is a biomarker that provides an alternative to thick blood smears in controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) trials. We reviewed data from CHMI trials at non-endemic sites that used blood smears and Plasmodium 18S rRNA/rDNA biomarker nucleic acid tests (NATs) for time to positivity. We validated a multiplex quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) for Plasmodium 18S rRNA, prospectively compared blood smears and qRT-PCR for three trials, and modeled treatment effects at different biomarker-defined parasite densities to assess the impact on infection detection, symptom reduction, and measured intervention efficacy. Literature review demonstrated accelerated NAT-based infection detection compared |

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Malaria is endemic in Tanzania with majority of clinical cases caused by Plasmodium falciparum. Additionally, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale spp. are also present and clinical manifestations caused by these infections are not well described. Clinical episodes caused by P. malariae infections are often characterized by a relatively mild illness with a low number of parasites, which can persist for long periods. In this report, two cases of P. malariae infections that were identified during a clinical trial evaluating the P. falciparum malaria vaccine candidate, PfSPZ Vaccine are described. The two participants were followed up and monitored for |