Schistosoma mansoni infection suppresses the growth of Plasmodium yoelii parasites in the liver and reduces gametocyte infectivity to mosquitoes.

• Published in: PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
• Main Authors: Taeko Moriyasu, Risa Nakamura, Sharmina Deloer, Masachika Senba, Masato Kubo, Megumi Inoue, Richard Culleton, Shinjiro Hamano
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2018
• Subjects: Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006197; https://doaj.org/article/03b940be68bc4049a386cad7cefc85dc

Malaria and schistosomiasis are major parasitic diseases causing morbidity and mortality in the tropics. Epidemiological surveys have revealed coinfection rates of up to 30% among children in Sub-Saharan Africa. To investigate the impact of coinfection of these two parasites on disease epidemiology and pathology, we carried out coinfection studies using Plasmodium yoelii and Schistosoma mansoni in mice. Malaria parasite growth in the liver following sporozoite inoculation is significantly inhibited in mice infected with S. mansoni, so that when low numbers of sporozoites are inoculated, there is a large reduction in the percentage of mice that go on to develop blood stage malaria. Furthermore, gametocyte infectivity is much reduced in mice with S. mansoni infections. These results have profound implications for understanding the interactions between Plasmodium and Schistosoma species, and have implications for the control of malaria in schistosome endemic areas.