Long-term Maintenance of CD4 T Cell Memory Responses to Malaria Antigens in Malian Children Coinfected with Schistosoma haematobium

摘要

Polyparasitism is common in the developing world. We have previously demonstrated that schistosomiasis-positive (SP) Malian children, aged 4–8?years, are protected from malaria compared to matched schistosomiasis-negative (SN) children. The effect of concomitant schistosomiasis upon acquisition of T cell memory is unknown. We examined antigen-specific T cell frequencies in 48 Malian children aged 4–14 to a pool of malaria blood stage antigens, and a pool of schistosomal antigens, at a time point during a malaria episode and at a convalescent time point ~6?months later, following cessation of malaria transmission. CD4~(+)T cell-derived memory responses, defined as one or more significant cytokine (IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-2, and/or IL-17_(A)) responses, was measured to schistoma antigens in 18/23 SP children at one or both time points, compared to 4/23 SN children ( P ?