Abstract
BackgroundPlasmodium vivax is the most widespread human malaria in tropical and subtropical countries, including the Republic of Korea. Vivax malaria is characterized by hypnozoite relapse and long latency infection by the retained liver stage of P. vivax, and somewhat surprisingly, little is known of the liver stage antigens of this parasite. Here, we report for the first time the characterization of a liver stage antigen of P. vivax (PvLSA).MethodsFive peptides located inside PvLSA were synthesized, and specific anti-sera to the respective peptides were used to localize PvLSA on P. vivax parasites in human liver cells by immunofluorescence. Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were performed using the five peptides and sera collected from vivax malaria patients and from normal healthy controls.ResultsPvLSA was localized on P. vivax parasites in human liver cells. Vivax malaria-infected patients were detected using the five peptides by western blotting. Furthermore, the peptides reacted with the sera of vivax malaria patients.ConclusionsThese results suggest that PvLSA may function during the liver stage of P. vivax.
Highlights
Plasmodium vivax is the most widespread human malaria in tropical and subtropical countries, including the Republic of Korea
Five antigenic peptides in a liver stage antigen of P. vivax (PvLSA) were predicted by two bioinformatic programs (Figure 1), and synthesized with or without ovalbumin conjugates. These P. vivax Sal-1 strain (PvLSA) peptides of Sal-I strain appeared to be conserved among the PvLSAs of other strains, including Brazil I, India VII, Mauritania I, North Korean, and South Korean strains according to the determination of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of PvLSAs in PlasmoDB
Reactions between specific anti-sera to peptides and P. vivax parasites in liver cells continued from day 1 to day 3 post-parasite infection, indicating that the five peptides spanning PvLSA are translated in the liver stage of P. vivax and retained during the early liver stage
Summary
Plasmodium vivax is the most widespread human malaria in tropical and subtropical countries, including the Republic of Korea. Plasmodium vivax is the most widespread human malaria, and afflicts several hundred million people annually. It is endemic to tropical and subtropical countries of the Americas, Africa, and Asia, including the Republic of Korea (ROK) [1,2,3]. Unlike P. falciparum, P. vivax is characterized by hypnozoite relapse in the liver. After being bitten by a P. vivax-infected mosquito, sporozoites enter hepatocytes, where most develop into schizonts that result in primary illness. Several factors have been suggested to lead to hypnozoite development, for example, a cold ambient temperature, the number of infecting sporozoites, the specific strain of the mosquito vector or P. vivax [4,5,6]
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