Biomarker of Anopheles exposure in Ghanaian children with hemoglobin S and C

Berlin Londono-Renteria, Zakaria Seidu, Helena Lamptey, Michael F. Ofori, Lars Hviid, Mary Lopez-Perez*

*Corresponding author af dette arbejde

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Abstract

Heterozygous carriers of hemoglobin S and C (HbAS and HbAC) have a reduced risk of severe malaria but are not protected from Plasmodium falciparum infection, suggesting that the protection involves acquired immunity. During a blood meal, female Anopheles mosquitoes inject saliva that can elicit a host antibody response, which can serve as a proxy for exposure to Plasmodium infection. Previous studies have shown that the peptide gSG6-P1 of An. gambiae saliva is antigenic and highly Anopheles specific. Here, we used plasma samples from 201 Ghanaian children with wild-type hemoglobin (HbAA), HbAS, and HbAC to evaluate antibody levels against gSG6-P1 as a serological biomarker of Anopheles exposure and, therefore of P. falciparum infection risk. Malaria antigen (PfCSP, GLURP, Pfs230, and HB3VAR06)-specific IgG levels, demographic data, and data regarding P. falciparum infection and malaria control practices were also analyzed. Children with active P. falciparum infection had higher antibody levels against all antigens, and those with HbAS and HbAC had significantly higher antibody levels against Pfs230. Pfs230-specific IgG correlated negatively with gSG6-P1-specific IgG in children with HbAC. Our results highlight the importance of studying the role of hemoglobinopathies in malaria transmission to improve control interventions.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer107043
TidsskriftActa Tropica
Vol/bind249
Antal sider8
ISSN0001-706X
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2024

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
This work was funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark [Grant 013-00123B; LH and MLP] and Danish International Development Agency, Danida [grant 17-02-KU; LH, MFO]. ZS and HL are supported by a PhD scholarship and a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the DANIDA-sponsored Building Stronger Universities initiative grant [BSUIII-UG], respectively. BLR was supported by the Tulane University COR research Fellowship. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Funding Information:
We thank the Ghanaian children and their families who participated in the original study. Eric Kyei-Baafour and Alex Kofi-Denso are thanked for their help with fieldwork. Michael Theisen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark), Asamoah Kusi and Linda Eva Amoah (Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana) are thanked for providing GLURP, PfCSP, and Pfs230 recombinant proteins, respectively.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)

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