miércoles, 21 de julio de 2010

Natural Immunization Against Malaria: Causal Prophylaxis with Antibiotics — Sci TM


Sci Transl Med 14 July 2010:
Vol. 2, Issue 40, p. 40ra49
DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3001058
Research Article
Natural Immunization Against Malaria: Causal Prophylaxis with Antibiotics
Johannes Friesen1,2, Olivier Silvie1,2, Elyzana Dewi Putrianti1,2, Julius C. R. Hafalla3, Kai Matuschewski1,2,* and Steffen Borrmann1,4,*

+ Author Affiliations

1Department of Infectious Diseases, Heidelberg University School of Medicine, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
2Parasitology Unit, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
3Immunology Unit, Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
4Kenya Medical Research Institute–Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi 80108, Kenya.
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: matuschewski@mpiib-berlin.mpg.de (K.M.); steffen.borrmann@urz.uni-heidelberg.de (S.B.)

Abstract
Malaria remains the most prevalent vector-borne infectious disease and has the highest rates of fatality. Current antimalarial drug strategies cure malaria or prevent infections but lack a sustained public health impact because they fail to expedite the acquisition of protective immunity. We show that antibiotic administration during transmission of the parasite Plasmodium berghei results in swift acquisition of long-lived, life cycle–specific protection against reinfection with live sporozoites in mice. Antibiotic treatment specifically inhibits the biogenesis and inheritance of the apicoplast in Plasmodium liver stages, resulting in continued liver-stage maturation but subsequent failure to establish blood-stage infection. Exponential expansion of these attenuated liver-stage merozoites from a single sporozoite induces potent immune protection against malaria. If confirmed in residents of malaria-endemic areas, periodic prophylaxis with safe and affordable antibiotics may offer a powerful shortcut toward a needle-free surrogate malaria immunization strategy.

Footnotes
Citation: J. Friesen, O. Silvie, E. D. Putrianti, J. C. R. Hafalla, K. Matuschewski, S. Borrmann, Natural immunization against malaria: Causal prophylaxis with antibiotics.Sci. Transl. Med. 2, 40ra49 (2010).

Copyright © 2010, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Natural Immunization Against Malaria: Causal Prophylaxis with Antibiotics — Sci TM

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