UMMS Affiliation
Department of Quantitative Health Sciences; Program in Molecular Medicine; Department of Pediatrics
Publication Date
2014-08-08
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Immunology of Infectious Disease | Immunopathology | Immunoprophylaxis and Therapy | Infectious Disease | Parasitic Diseases | Parasitology
Abstract
Determining an immunologic correlate of protection against Plasmodium falciparum malaria has been the holy grail of natural infection studies, and sought after as an endpoint for malaria vaccine trials. An in vitro assay that provides an accurate and precise assessment of protective immunity to malaria would make smaller, short-duration studies feasible, rather than the currently powered study designs that use morbidity or mortality as outcomes. Such a biomarker would be especially desirable in situations where malaria control measures that result in decreases in clinical endpoints and putatively waning protective immunity have been implemented. In an article published in BMC Medicine, Osier and colleagues addressed this problem, and demonstrated that antibodies promoting opsonic phagocytosis of merozoites provide a functional link between antigen-specific responses and protection. Understanding the mechanisms conferring protection against malaria not only improves our knowledge of basic human immunology, but promises to help in the design of an effective malaria vaccine.
DOI of Published Version
10.1186/s12916-014-0134-1
Source
BMC Med. 2014 Aug 8;12(1):134. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
BMC medicine
Related Resources
PubMed ID
25285918
Repository Citation
Moormann, Ann M. and Stewart, V. Ann, "The hunt for protective correlates of immunity to Plasmodium falciparum malaria" (2014). Open Access Articles. 2431.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/2431
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Immunology of Infectious Disease Commons, Immunopathology Commons, Immunoprophylaxis and Therapy Commons, Infectious Disease Commons, Parasitic Diseases Commons, Parasitology Commons