Age-structured gametocyte allocation links immunity to epidemiology in malaria parasites
Abstract Background Despite a long history of attempts to model malaria epidemiology, the over-riding conclusion is that a detailed understanding of host-parasite interactions leading to immunity is required. It is still not known what governs the duration of an infection and how within-human parasi...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a6c8d65ad8084613a37e9997c96213c0 2023-05-15T15:14:28+02:00 Age-structured gametocyte allocation links immunity to epidemiology in malaria parasites Boudin Christian Bonnet Sarah Paul Richard E Tchuinkam Timoleon Robert Vincent 2007-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-6-123 https://doaj.org/article/a6c8d65ad8084613a37e9997c96213c0 EN eng BMC http://www.malariajournal.com/content/6/1/123 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-6-123 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/a6c8d65ad8084613a37e9997c96213c0 Malaria Journal, Vol 6, Iss 1, p 123 (2007) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 article 2007 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-6-123 2022-12-31T08:48:32Z Abstract Background Despite a long history of attempts to model malaria epidemiology, the over-riding conclusion is that a detailed understanding of host-parasite interactions leading to immunity is required. It is still not known what governs the duration of an infection and how within-human parasite dynamics relate to malaria epidemiology. Presentation of the hypothesis Immunity to Plasmodium falciparum develops slowly and requires repeated exposure to the parasite, which thus generates age-structure in the host-parasite interaction. An age-structured degree of immunity would present the parasite with humans of highly variable quality. Evolutionary theory suggests that natural selection will mould adaptive phenotypes that are more precise (less variant) in "high quality" habitats, where lifetime reproductive success is best. Variability in malaria parasite gametocyte density is predicted to be less variable in those age groups who best infect mosquitoes. Thus, the extent to which variation in gametocyte density is a simple parasite phenotype reflecting the complex within-host parasite dynamics is addressed. Testing the hypothesis Gametocyte densities and corresponding infectiousness to mosquitoes from published data sets and studies in both rural and urban Cameroon are analysed. The mean and variation in gametocyte density according to age group are considered and compared with transmission success (proportion of mosquitoes infected). Across a wide range of settings endemic for malaria, the age group that infected most mosquitoes had the least variation in gametocyte density, i.e. there was a significant relationship between the variance rather than the mean gametocyte density and age-specific parasite transmission success. In these settings, the acquisition of immunity over time was evident as a decrease in asexual parasite densities with age. By contrast, in an urban setting, there were no such age-structured relationships either with variation in gametocyte density or asexual parasite density. Implications ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Malaria Journal 6 1 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
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English |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Boudin Christian Bonnet Sarah Paul Richard E Tchuinkam Timoleon Robert Vincent Age-structured gametocyte allocation links immunity to epidemiology in malaria parasites |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
description |
Abstract Background Despite a long history of attempts to model malaria epidemiology, the over-riding conclusion is that a detailed understanding of host-parasite interactions leading to immunity is required. It is still not known what governs the duration of an infection and how within-human parasite dynamics relate to malaria epidemiology. Presentation of the hypothesis Immunity to Plasmodium falciparum develops slowly and requires repeated exposure to the parasite, which thus generates age-structure in the host-parasite interaction. An age-structured degree of immunity would present the parasite with humans of highly variable quality. Evolutionary theory suggests that natural selection will mould adaptive phenotypes that are more precise (less variant) in "high quality" habitats, where lifetime reproductive success is best. Variability in malaria parasite gametocyte density is predicted to be less variable in those age groups who best infect mosquitoes. Thus, the extent to which variation in gametocyte density is a simple parasite phenotype reflecting the complex within-host parasite dynamics is addressed. Testing the hypothesis Gametocyte densities and corresponding infectiousness to mosquitoes from published data sets and studies in both rural and urban Cameroon are analysed. The mean and variation in gametocyte density according to age group are considered and compared with transmission success (proportion of mosquitoes infected). Across a wide range of settings endemic for malaria, the age group that infected most mosquitoes had the least variation in gametocyte density, i.e. there was a significant relationship between the variance rather than the mean gametocyte density and age-specific parasite transmission success. In these settings, the acquisition of immunity over time was evident as a decrease in asexual parasite densities with age. By contrast, in an urban setting, there were no such age-structured relationships either with variation in gametocyte density or asexual parasite density. Implications ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Boudin Christian Bonnet Sarah Paul Richard E Tchuinkam Timoleon Robert Vincent |
author_facet |
Boudin Christian Bonnet Sarah Paul Richard E Tchuinkam Timoleon Robert Vincent |
author_sort |
Boudin Christian |
title |
Age-structured gametocyte allocation links immunity to epidemiology in malaria parasites |
title_short |
Age-structured gametocyte allocation links immunity to epidemiology in malaria parasites |
title_full |
Age-structured gametocyte allocation links immunity to epidemiology in malaria parasites |
title_fullStr |
Age-structured gametocyte allocation links immunity to epidemiology in malaria parasites |
title_full_unstemmed |
Age-structured gametocyte allocation links immunity to epidemiology in malaria parasites |
title_sort |
age-structured gametocyte allocation links immunity to epidemiology in malaria parasites |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-6-123 https://doaj.org/article/a6c8d65ad8084613a37e9997c96213c0 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Malaria Journal, Vol 6, Iss 1, p 123 (2007) |
op_relation |
http://www.malariajournal.com/content/6/1/123 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-6-123 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/a6c8d65ad8084613a37e9997c96213c0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-6-123 |
container_title |
Malaria Journal |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766344922102759424 |