Naturally Acquired Antibodies to Sporozoites do not Prevent Malaria: Vaccine Development Implications

The first human vaccines against the malaria parasite have been designed to elicit antibodies to the circumsporozoite protein of Plasmodium falciparum. However, it is not known whether any level of naturally acquired antibodies to the circumsporozoite protein can predict resistance to Plasmodium fal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1987-08, Vol.237 (4815), p.639-642
Main Authors: Hoffman, Stephen L., Oster, Charles N., Plowe, Christopher V., Woollett, Gillian R., Beier, John C., Chulay, Jeffrey D., Wirtz, Robert A., Hollingdale, Michael R., Mugambi, Mutuma
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adults
Antibodies
Antibodies - analysis
Antigens, Protozoan
Antigens, Surface - immunology
Biological and medical sciences
Disease transmission
Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay
Human protozoal diseases
Humans
Immunity
Infections
Infectious diseases
Kenya
Malaria
Malaria - prevention & control
Male
Medical research
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Parasitemia
Parasites
Parasitic diseases
Plasmodium
Plasmodium (Protozoa)
Plasmodium falciparum
Plasmodium falciparum - immunology
Prevention
Prospective Studies
Proteins
Protozoal diseases
Protozoan Proteins
Spores - immunology
Sporozoites
Time Factors
Vaccines
Viruses
Volunteerism
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Summary:The first human vaccines against the malaria parasite have been designed to elicit antibodies to the circumsporozoite protein of Plasmodium falciparum. However, it is not known whether any level of naturally acquired antibodies to the circumsporozoite protein can predict resistance to Plasmodium falciparum malaria. In this study, 83 adults in a malaria-endemic region of Kenya were tested for circumsporozoite antibodies and then treated for malaria. They were monitored for the development of new malaria infections for 98 days. Antibody levels, as determined by four assays in vitro, were indistinguishable between the 60 individuals who did and the 23 who did not develop parasitemia during follow-up, and there was no apparent relation between day of onset of parasitemia and level of antibodies to circumsporozoite protein. Unless immunization with sporozoite vaccines induces antibodies that are quantitatively or qualitatively superior to the circumsporozoite antibodies in these adults, it is unlikely that such antibodies will prevent infection in areas with as intense malaria transmission as western Kenya.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.3299709