Work

Activation of T Cells in the Blood of Patients with Acute Malaria: Proliferative Activity as Indicated by Ki‐67 Expression

Year: 2001

Type: article

Abstract: The expression of the proliferation-associated nuclear antigen Ki-67 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells was studied in 30 patients with acute malarial illness and 11 healthy controls from Addis Ababa or Nazareth in Ethiopia. Seventeen patients had Plasmodium falciparum infections and 13 had Plasmodium vivax. Two-colour immunoenzymatic staining was developed in order to simultaneously detect the expression of the nuclear antigen Ki-67 and determine the surface phenotype of the cell. The median percentage of proliferating, Ki-67 positive lymphocytes was significantly higher in patients with acute P. falciparum (11.8%) and P. vivax (15.6%) illnesses compared to the controls (4.3%). The majority of Ki-67 positive cells were T cells (CD3+) while the relative increase of Ki-67 expressing cells was similar for both the CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell subsets. Our data show an increased number of activated cells driven to proliferation in the peripheral blood of patients during acute malaria illness.

Source: Scandinavian Journal of Immunology

DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-3083.2001.00861.x

Authors: S. Worku, M. Troye‐Blomberg, B. Christensson, A. Björkman, T. Fehniger

Institutions: Stockholm University, Karolinska Institutet, Addis Ababa University

Language: English

Topic: Malaria Research and Control

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: Styrelsen för Internationellt Utvecklingssamarbete, Medical Research Council