Abstract
BackgroundThe erythrocyte binding antigen 175 (EBA-175) is a 175 kDa antigen of Plasmodium falciparum and plays a major role in erythrocyte recognition by the parasite. The antigen is also supposed to be partly responsible for the invasion of erythrocytes by merozoites. EBA-175 has been sequenced from the FCR-3 and CAMP strains of P. falciparum. The sequences were identical in most parts of the gene. Differences were apparent in a 423 bp segment in the FCR-3 strain, the F-Fragment, that is not found in the CAMP-strain and a 342 bp segment, the C-Fragment, which is present in the CAMP-strain but not in the FCR-3-strain. The aim of this study was to assess the distribution of the two EBA-175-alleles in the Lao PDR.Materials & MethodsAltogether, 240 blood-samples were collected in two areas of the country: Attapeu in the south and Lung Namtha in the north. Subsequently, the material was scanned for the F-and C-fragments.ResultsIn the whole study population, 52% carried the F-fragment, and 41% the C-fragment while seven percent of the patients were infected with at least two parasite strains and showed both alleles.ConclusionDistribution of the alleles showed significant differences between the north and the south province. Reasons for this include possible importation of different parasite strains from neighbouring countries.
Highlights
The erythrocyte binding antigen-175 (EBA-175) of Plasmodium falciparum is localized in the merozoites and seems to be one of the key players during the fast cascade of interactions between the parasite and host molecules before the merozoite completely invades the erythrocyte [1]
Malaria Journal 2003, 2 http://www.malariajournal.com/content/2/1/23 discharged and a tight junction is formed between the erythrocyte membrane and the surface of the merozoite [3]
F1 and F2 at the N-terminus are responsible for the glycophorin A binding on the erythrocyte membrane [4]
Summary
The erythrocyte binding antigen-175 (EBA-175) of Plasmodium falciparum is localized in the merozoites and seems to be one of the key players during the fast cascade of interactions between the parasite and host molecules before the merozoite completely invades the erythrocyte [1]. EBA-175 is localized in the micronemes and has been identified as the merozoite ligand that binds a sialic aciddependent site on glycophorin A [4]. It acts as a "bridge" between parasite and host cell. Sequence analysis of two different P. falciparum strains identified highly dimorphic segments, FCR-3 and CAMP [5,6,7]. The sequences of both strains are nearly identical, except for one dimorphic region in the FCR-3 strain (referred as F-Fragment) and one in the CAMP-stain (referred as C-Fragment). The aim of this study was to assess the distribution of the two EBA-175-alleles in the Lao PDR
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