Malaria Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Malaria, including details on prevention, treatment, causes, mosquitoes.

Plasmodium yoelii: distinct CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cell responses during the early stages of infection in susceptible and resistant mice.

Wu Y, Wang QH, Zheng L, Feng H, Liu J, Ma SH, Cao YM

Department of Immunology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.

The outcome of experimental murine infection with different strains of malaria parasites, ranging from spontaneous cure to death, depends largely on the establishment of effective Th1 responses during the early stages of infection. Here we describe the disparity in CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cell (Treg) responses during the early stages of infection with the highly virulent Plasmodium yoelii 17XL strain in susceptible (BALB/c) and resistant (DBA/2) mice. An increased proportion of Tregs 3-4 days post inoculation, co-occurring with elevated IL-10 levels, is observed in BALB/c but not in DBA/2 mice. These findings suggest that Treg proliferation might be causally associated with the suppression of Th1 responses during early malaria infection, leading to increase parasitemia and mortality in BALB/c mice, possibly in an IL-10-dependent manner.

Published 5 December 2006 in Exp Parasitol, 115(3): 301-4.
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