Age of First Exposure to the Malaria Parasite Does Not Influence the Acquisition of Antibody Responses

Researchers from ISGlobal research centre CRESIB (Barcelona Centre for International Health Research) and CISM (Manhiça Health Research Centre) have published a study on the acquisition of malaria antibody responses in infants under 2 years of age. The study was performed in Mozambique and shows that the age at which infants were first exposed to Plasmodium falciparum infection did not influence the acquisition of antibody responses to the antigens examined.

 "We compared the magnitude and breadth of antibody response between the study groups during the drug intervention period (first year) and the year after the intervention (second year) and saw that P. falciparum antibody responses did not vary significantly between the groups for the majority of blood markers evaluated," explained ISGlobal researcher Dr. Dobaño, who led the study.

Drug intervention during the first year of life does not have an important impact on the acquisition of immunity to malaria in the second year of life in face of high levels of maternal antibodies still circulating in the plasma of these infants.

As Dr. Augusto Nhabomba, CISM researcher and co-author of the study, explained, "Until now, we did not know how age of first exposure to P. falciparum influenced the development of the immune system in infants. Now we know that the magnitude and breadth of antibody responses are affected by exposure to the parasite and the child's age."

Future studies will need to investigate whether drug intervention has an impact on the quality of antibody responses (e.g. affinity and functionality) and on cellular immune responses, which might contribute to naturally acquired immunity. 

More information:

Impact of age of first exposure to Plasmodium falciparum on antibody responses to malaria in children: a randomized, controlled trial in Mozambique.