Antibodies to the Plasmodium falciparum antigens circumsporozoite protein, thrombospondin-related adhesive protein, and liver-stage antigen 1 vary by ages of subjects and by season in a highland area of Kenya

Abstract

Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to three vaccine candidate preerythrocytic Plasmodium falciparum antigens were evaluated in children and adults in an epidemic-prone highland area of Kenya during rainy (high-transmission) and dry (low-transmission) seasons. The frequencies and median levels of IgG antibodies to circumsporozoite protein (CSP) and thrombospondin-related adhesive protein (TRAP) were compared to the frequencies and median levels of IgG antibodies to liver-stage antigen 1 (LSA-1) reported previously. The frequencies and median levels of IgG antibodies to CSP and TRAP were similar in children and adults in the rainy season, but they were lower in children than in adults in the dry season. The frequencies and median levels of antibodies to LSA-1 were lower in children than in adults in both the rainy and dry seasons. Antibodies to CSP and LSA-1 were primarily members of the IgG1 and IgG3 subclasses, while antibodies to TRAP were primarily members of the IgG3 and IgG4 subclasses. In a treatment-reinfection study following dry season testing, antibodies to TRAP were associated with a trend toward protection from infection in children (P = 0.051) but not in adults. Antibodies to LSA-1 and CSP did not correlate with protection in children or adults. In this highland area of Kenya with unstable transmission, IgG antibodies to preerythrocytic P. falciparum antigens vary in subjects by age and season, and the protective effects of these antibodies against infection may be different in adults and children.

FIG. 1.

Time to reinfection with P. falciparum in children with and without IgG antibodies to TRAP, as determined by a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.