Open AccessAnti‐malaria antibody‐producing B cell frequencies in adults after a Plasmodium falciparum outbreak in Madagascar
Author(s) -
MIGOT F.,
CHOUGNET C.,
HENZEL D.,
DUBOIS B.,
JAMBOU R.,
FIEVET N.,
DELORON P.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
clinical & experimental immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 135
eISSN - 1365-2249
pISSN - 0009-9104
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1995.tb03848.x
Subject(s) - malaria , plasmodium falciparum , antibody , immunology , virology , biology , outbreak , immune system
SUMMARY The central highlands of Madagascar offer a unique opportunity to explore the malaria immune memory, as the last murderous epidemic in the study area occurred 8 years ago. Quantification of the circulating memory B lymphocytes reacting to Plasmodium falciparum was assessed among 14 Madagascans by using a limiting dilution assay, applied to the EL4 culture system, which leads to activation, proliferation and differentia lion into antibody‐secreting cells (ASC) of most peripheral B cells. This system allowed us to observe, without any malaria‐specific restimulalion, a geometric mean frequency of one anti‐ P. falciparum ASC among 2992 circulating B cells, except for one Madagascan who did not have any detectable ASC. A geometric mean frequency of one anti‐ P. falciparum ASC among 1403 was obtained for six malaria hyperimmune Cameroonians, but conversely, no anti‐malaria ASC was detected in the blood of six malaria non‐immune French control subjects. Anti‐P. falciparum ASC frequencies and serum specific antibodies were strongly related. Our results indicate that anti‐malaria ASC are still present in peripheral blood of Madagascan subjects, who have not been exposed to P. falciparum for several years. These responder B cells reflect the malaria B cell memory acquired during the last epidemic.