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Little E, Shenkutie TT, Negash MT, Abagero BR, Abebe A, Popovici J, Feleke SM, Lo E. Prevalence and Characteristics of Plasmodium vivax Gametocytes in Duffy-Positive and Duffy-Negative Populations across Ethiopia. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2024; 110:1091-1099. [PMID: 38626749 PMCID: PMC11154031 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.23-0877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Plasmodium parasites replicate asexually in human hosts. The proportion of infections that carries gametocytes is a proxy for human-to-mosquito transmissibility. It is unclear which proportion of Plasmodium vivax infections in Duffy-negative populations carries gametocytes. We determined the prevalence and characteristics of P. vivax gametocytes in Duffy-positive and -negative populations across broad regions of Ethiopia. Finger-prick blood samples were collected for microscopic and molecular screening of Plasmodium parasites and Duffy status of individuals. Molecular screening of Plasmodium species and Duffy blood group genotyping was done using SYBR green and the Taqman quantitative polymerase chain reaction method. Of the 447 febrile patients who were shown to be P. vivax smear positive, 414 (92.6%) were confirmed by molecular screening as P. vivax and 16 (3.9%) of them were from Duffy-negative individuals. Of these, 5 of 16 (31.3%) Duffy-negative P. vivax-infected samples were detected with gametocytes. Of the 398 Duffy-positive P. vivax-infected samples, 150 (37.7%) were detected with gametocytes, slightly greater than that in Duffy-negative samples. This study highlights the presence of P. vivax gametocytes in Duffy-negative infections, suggestive of human-to-mosquito transmissibility. Although P. vivax infections in Duffy-negative individuals were commonly associated with low parasitemia, some of these infections were shown to have relatively high parasitemia and may represent a prominent erythrocyte invasion capability of P. vivax, and hidden reservoirs that can contribute to transmission. A better understanding of P. vivax transmission biology and gametocyte function particularly in Duffy-negative populations would aid future treatment and management of P. vivax malaria in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ebony Little
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, North Carolina
| | - Tassew T. Shenkutie
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University, College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Debre Brehan University, Ethiopia
| | | | - Beka R. Abagero
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Genetics, Drexel University, College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Abnet Abebe
- Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | | | | | - Eugenia Lo
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, North Carolina
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University, College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Sharma P, Tandel N, Kumar R, Negi S, Sharma P, Devi S, Saxena K, Chaudhary NR, Saini S, Kumar R, Chandel BS, Sijwali PS, Tyagi RK. Oleuropein activates autophagy to circumvent anti-plasmodial defense. iScience 2024; 27:109463. [PMID: 38562521 PMCID: PMC10982566 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2023] [Revised: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Antimalarial drug resistance and unavailability of effective vaccine warrant for newer drugs and drug targets. Hence, anti-inflammatory activity of phyto-compound (oleuropein; OLP) was determined in antigen (LPS)-stimulated human THP-1 macrophages (macrophage model of inflammation; MMI). Reduction in the inflammation was controlled by the PI3K-Akt1 signaling to establish the "immune-homeostasis." Also, OLP treatment influenced the cell death/autophagy axis leading to the modulated inflammation for extended cell survival. The findings with MII prompted us to detect the antimalarial activity of OLP in the wild type (3D7), D10-expressing GFP-Atg18 parasite, and chloroquine-resistant (Dd2) parasite. OLP did not show the parasite inhibition in the routine in vitro culture of P. falciparum whereas OLP increased the antimalarial activity of artesunate. The molecular docking of autophagy-related proteins, investigations with MMI, and parasite inhibition assays indicated that the host activated the autophagy to survive OLP pressure. The challenge model of P. berghei infection showed to induce autophagy for circumventing anti-plasmodial defenses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Praveen Sharma
- Division of Cell Biology and Immunology, Biomedical Parasitology and Translational-immunology Lab, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Sec-39A, Chandigarh 160036, India
| | - Nikunj Tandel
- Institute of Science, Nirma University, SG highway, Ahmedabad 382481, India
| | - Rajinder Kumar
- Division of Cell Biology and Immunology, Biomedical Parasitology and Translational-immunology Lab, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Sec-39A, Chandigarh 160036, India
| | - Sushmita Negi
- Division of Cell Biology and Immunology, Biomedical Parasitology and Translational-immunology Lab, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Sec-39A, Chandigarh 160036, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovation Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Prakriti Sharma
- Division of Cell Biology and Immunology, Biomedical Parasitology and Translational-immunology Lab, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Sec-39A, Chandigarh 160036, India
| | - Sonia Devi
- Division of Cell Biology and Immunology, Biomedical Parasitology and Translational-immunology Lab, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Sec-39A, Chandigarh 160036, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovation Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Kanika Saxena
- Academy of Scientific and Innovation Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
| | - Neil Roy Chaudhary
- Division of Cell Biology and Immunology, Biomedical Parasitology and Translational-immunology Lab, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Sec-39A, Chandigarh 160036, India
| | - Sheetal Saini
- Division of Cell Biology and Immunology, Biomedical Parasitology and Translational-immunology Lab, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Sec-39A, Chandigarh 160036, India
| | - Reetesh Kumar
- Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Applied Sciences & Humanities, GLA University, Mathura 281406, India
| | - Bharat Singh Chandel
- Department of Animal Biotechnology, College of Veterinary Science and AH, Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada Agricultural University, Sardarkrushinagar, Gujarat 385 506, India
| | - Puran S. Sijwali
- Academy of Scientific and Innovation Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
- CSIR-Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
| | - Rajeev K. Tyagi
- Division of Cell Biology and Immunology, Biomedical Parasitology and Translational-immunology Lab, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Sec-39A, Chandigarh 160036, India
- Academy of Scientific and Innovation Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
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Little E, Shenkutie TT, Negash MT, Abagero BR, Abebe A, Popovici J, Mekasha S, Lo E. Prevalence and characteristics of Plasmodium vivax Gametocytes in Duffy-positive and Duffy-negative populations across Ethiopia. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.12.10.23299780. [PMID: 38168152 PMCID: PMC10760292 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.10.23299780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Plasmodium parasites replicate asexually in the human host. The proportion of infections that carries gametocytes is a proxy for human-to-mosquito transmissibility. It is unclear what proportion of P. vivax infections in Duffy-negatives carries gametocytes. This study aims to determine the prevalence of P. vivax in Duffy-negatives across broad regions of Ethiopia and characterize parasite stages. Finger-prick blood samples were collected for microscopic and molecular screening of Plasmodium parasites and Duffy status of individuals. Molecular screening of plasmodium species and Duffy blood group genotyping was done using SYBR green and Taqman qPCR method. Among the total 447 samples, 414 (92.6%) were P. vivax confirmed and, 16 (3.9%) of them were from Duffy-negatives. Of these, 5/16 (31.3%) Duffy-negative P. vivax-infected samples were detected with gametocytes. Of the 398 Duffy-positive P. vivax-infected samples, 150 (37.7%) were detected with gametocytes, slightly higher than that in Duffy-negatives. This study highlights the presence of P. vivax gametocytes in Duffy-negative infections, suggestive of human-to-mosquito transmissibility. Although P. vivax infections in Duffy-negatives are commonly associated with low parasitemia, some of these infections were shown with relatively high parasitemia and may represent better erythrocyte invasion capability of P. vivax and hidden reservoirs that can contribute to transmission. A better understanding of P. vivax transmission biology and gametocyte function particularly in Duffy-negative populations would aid future treatment and management of vivax malaria in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ebony Little
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
| | - Tassew T. Shenkutie
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University, College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Debre Brehan University, Debre Brehan, Ethiopia
| | | | - Beka R. Abagero
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Genetics, Drexel University, College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Abnet Abebe
- Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | | | - Sindew Mekasha
- Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Eugenia Lo
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University, College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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