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Experimental evidence implicates tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in the pathogenesis of malarial anemia, but there are few data relating to this hypothesis. This study found that severely anemic children with Plasmodium falciparum infection have low plasma TNF levels, in contrast to the high levels found in cerebral malaria. A previous case-control study in The Gambia found cerebral malaria, but not severe malarial anemia, was associated with the TNF-308 A allele. This study found that in the same population, severe malarial anemia was associated with the TNF-238 A allele, with an odds ratio of 2.5 (P<.001) after stratification for HLA type. These findings suggest that severe malarial anemia and cerebral malaria are influenced by separate genetic factors situated near the TNF gene.

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We have used PKH26 dye, which is incorporated stably into the membrane of cells, to determine, using flow cytometry, lymphocyte proliferative responses to the antigen tetanus toxoid in fresh and cryopreserved samples. Measuring cell proliferation with this dye has advantages over either 3H-thymidine or Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). Whereas the existing methods measure proliferation at a single time point, PKH26 gives a cumulative measure of cell proliferation. As PKH26 is incorporated into the cell membrane, cells do not have to be permeabilised to allow dye incorporation into a cytoplasmic compartment. Most importantly, PKH26 can be used in combination with monoclonal antibodies to surface markers on mixed populations of cells, to determine the proliferation of individual subpopulations, without the need for prior cell fractionation. We also show that PKH26 can be used with similar efficacy in both fresh and cryopreserved samples. In addition since PKH26 is a cumulative measure of proliferative responses we were able to show that restimulation of the dividing population in vitro with fresh antigen presenting cells (APC) and antigen permits characterisation of a further proliferating cell population. The use of PKH26 dye in combination with cell phenotyping and measurement of cytokine production at the single cell level will prove a powerful tool for multiparameter analyses of cellular responses to antigen.

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Ty virus-like particles consist of a single protein species that can be produced in yeast. Recombinant Ty-VLPs carrying a string of up to 15 defined cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes from Plasmodium species prime protective CTL responses in mice following a single administration without adjuvant. Effective processing of epitopes from the string was demonstrated in vitro and in vivo and was not affected by flanking sequences.

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A variety of vaccine delivery systems including peptides with various adjuvants, recombinant particles, live recombinant viruses and bacteria and plasmid DNA were tested for their ability to induce CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) against a well-defined epitope (amino acids 252-260) from the circumsporozoite (CS) protein of Plasmodium berghei. We compared routes of immunization that would be applicable for the administration of a malaria vaccine in humans. The majority of these vaccines did not induce high CTL responses in the spleens of immunized mice. However, both a yeast-derived Ty virus-like particle expressing the optimal nine-amino acid epitope SYIPSAEKI from the CS protein (CSP-VLP) and a lipid-tailed peptide of this same sequence induced high levels of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted CTL with one and three subcutaneous immunizations, respectively. Moreover, these CTL were able to recognize naturally processed antigen expressed by a recombinant vaccinia virus. The levels of CTL induced by CSP-VLP could be augmented by co-immunization with certain cytokines. Target cells pulsed with CSP-VLP were recognized and lysed, showing that the particles were effectively processed and presented through MHC class I presentation pathway. The levels of CTL induced using CSP-VLP and lipopeptides are comparable to those observed after immunization with multiple doses of irradiated sporozoites.

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Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, the most common enzymopathy of humans, affects over 400 million people. The geographical correlation of its distribution with the historical endemicity of malaria suggests that this disorder has risen in frequency through natural selection by malaria. However, attempts to confirm that G6PD deficiency is protective in case-control studies of malaria have yielded conflicting results. Hence, for this X-linked disorder, it is unclear whether both male hemizygotes and female heterozygotes are protected or, as frequently suggested, only females. Furthermore, how much protection may be afforded is unknown. Here we report that, in two large case-control studies of over 2,000 African children, the common African form of G6PD deficiency (G6PD A-) is associated with a 46-58% reduction in risk of severe malaria for both female heterozygotes and male hemizygotes. A mathematical model incorporating the measured selective advantage against malaria suggests that a counterbalancing selective disadvantage, associated with this enzyme deficiency, has retarded its rise in frequency in malaria-endemic regions. Although G6PD deficiency is now regarded as a generally benign disorder, in earlier environmental conditions it could have been significantly disadvantageous.

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Various protocols were developed and compared for eliciting specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) cell lines from the unselected human peripheral blood mononuclear cells of naive donors. Interleukin-7 and CD4+ T cells primed in vitro by keyhole limpet hemocyanin were shown to act together in the generation of these responses. Primary responses were consistently induced with a variety of different HLA class I-binding malarial peptides. Primary CTL responses could be induced from unselected CD8+ and from CD45RA+CD8+ T cells. The CTL lines derived from these naive donors were CD8+ and demonstrated a high level of HLA class I-restricted killing for > 3 months after priming in vitro. They were also able to recognize and kill targets infected with a recombinant vaccinia virus containing the full-length antigen. In addition, this same protocol enhanced up to fourfold the levels of secondary CTL responses induced. The optimal method presented for naive cytotoxic T cell stimulation is simple, rapid and generally applicable and should provide a useful tool for both basic research and human therapy.

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Several cellular and humoral mechanisms probably play a role in natural immunity to Plasmodium falciparum malaria, but the development of an effective vaccine has been impeded by uncertainty as to which antigens are targeted by protective immune responses. Experimental models of malaria have shown that cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) which kill parasite-infected hepatocytes can provide complete protective immunity against certain species of Plasmodium in mice, and studies in The Gambia have provided indirect evidence that CTL play a protective role against P falciparum in humans. By using an HLA-based approach, termed reverse immunogenetics, we have previously identified peptide epitopes for CTL in liver-stage antigen-1 and the circumsporozoite protein of P falciparum. We have extended this work to identify CTL epitopes for HLA class I antigens that are found in most individuals from Caucasian and African populations. Most of these epitopes are in conserved regions of P falciparum. CTL peptide epitopes were found in a further two antigens, thrombospondin-related anonymous protein and sporozoite threonine and asparagine rich protein, indicating that a subunit vaccine designed to induce a protective CTL response may need to include parts of several parasite antigens. However, CTL levels in both children with malaria and in semi-immune adults from an endemic area were low suggesting that boosting these low levels by immunisation might provide substantial or even complete protection against infection and disease.

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Severe malaria is a major cause of childhood mortality in sub-Saharan Africa but the factors predisposing children to severe forms of malaria have not been fully elucidated. In a case-control study of over 1,200 Gambian children hepatitis B virus carriage was significantly increased amongst cases of severe malaria compared to matched controls. We suggest that this association may relate to impaired clearance of liver stage parasites in the presence of the reduced level of HLA class I antigen expression on hepatocytes infected by hepatitis B virus. If this association is causal and viral carriage predisposes to severe malaria, widespread vaccination against hepatitis B virus may reduce mortality from severe malaria.

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BACKGROUND: The course of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection does not appear to be determined by variations in viral virulence and may be influenced by the host immune response. We studied the distribution of human leukocyte antigens in children and adult men in the Gambia who spontaneously recovered from HBV infection as compared with the distribution of these antigens in subjects with persistent infection. METHODS: In a two-stage, case-control study, we analyzed the frequency of MHC class I antigens and class II haplotypes in people with either transient or persistent HBV infection. MHC class I typing was performed by microlymphocytotoxicity assays. MHC class II typing was performed with analysis of restriction-fragment-length polymorphisms (RFLPs), supplemented by other techniques. RESULTS: In the first stage (the study of children up to the age of 10 years), the RFLP pattern 25-1, which includes the class II allele HLA-DRB1*1302, was found in 58 of 218 subjects with transient HBV infection (26.6 percent) and 30 of 185 subjects with persistent infection (16.2 percent) (relative risk of carrying the 25-1 pattern in the persistently infected group as compared with the transiently infected group, 0.53; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.32 to 0.90; P = 0.012). In the second stage (the study of adults), HLA-DRB1*1302 was found in 50 of 195 subjects with transient HBV infection (25.6 percent) and in 3 of 40 subjects with persistent infection (7.5 percent) (relative risk, 0.24; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.04 to 0.80; P = 0.012). The RFLP pattern 13-2, which includes the class II allele DRB1*1301, was less frequent in children with persistent infection than in those with transient infection, an association that was neither confirmed nor excluded by the data on adults. Possible associations with HLA class I antigens found in children were not supported by the data on adults. CONCLUSIONS: The MHC class II allele DRB1*1302 was associated with protection against persistent HBV infection among both children and adults in the Gambia.

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Daudi, a lymphoblastoid B cell line derived from an African Burkitt lymphoma does not express HLA-A,B,C antigens at the cell surface. Although HLA-A,B,C heavy chains are made normally they do not assemble into functional molecules because beta 2-microglobulin is absent. Previous serological analysis of somatic cell hybrids indicated that the HLA haplotypes of Daudi encoded HLA-A1, A10(A26), B17, and B16(38) antigens. Here we describe the application of molecular methods: ARMS-PCR, cDNA cloning and sequencing, immunoprecipitation and gel electrophoresis, to define the class I genotype of the Daudi cell line which is HLA-A*0102, A*6601, B*5801, B*5802, Cw*0302 and Cw*0602. With the exception of the B38 antigen, which is not a product of the alleles defined, the genotype is consistent with the serological description. Two previously undiscovered alleles emerged from this analysis: A*0102 and B*5802. The A*0102 allele differs from A*0101 by 5 nucleotide substitutions within exon 2 where it has a motif shared with A*30 alleles; the B*5802 allele differs from B*5801 by 3 substitutions in exon 3 where it has a motif shared with B*14 alleles. Subtyping HLA-A1 alleles showed A*0102 was well represented amongst individuals typed serologically as A1 in an African population but was absent from caucasoids. B*5802 has been found in a second individual. Thus the novel A and B alleles are not specific to the Daudi tumor. Overall, this analysis of a single East African cell illustrates the power of molecular methods to define new class I HLA alleles in non-caucasoid populations.

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The extraordinary polymorphism of human leukocyte antigens (HLA) poses a question as to how this remarkable diversity arose and is maintained. The explanation that infectious pathogens are largely responsible is theoretically attractive but clear and consistent associations between HLA alleles and major infectious diseases have rarely been identified. Large case-control studies of HLA types in African children with severe malaria indicate that HLA associations with this parasitic infection do exist and it is becoming possible to investigate the underlying mechanisms by identification of peptide epitopes in parasite antigens. Such analysis reveals how the magnitude and detectability of HLA associations may be influenced by numerous genetic and environmental factors. These complex interactions will give rise to variation over time and space in the selective pressures exerted by infectious diseases and this fluctuation may, in itself, contribute to the maintenance of HLA polymorphism.

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Tumour-necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is believed to have an important role in the pathogenesis of severe infectious disease and fatal cerebral malaria is associated with high circulating levels of this cytokine. In a large case-control study in Gambian children we find that homozygotes for the TNF2 allele, a variant of the TNF-alpha gene promoter region, have a relative risk of 7 for death or severe neurological sequelae due to cerebral malaria. Although the TNF2 allele is in linkage disequilibrium with several neighbouring HLA alleles, we show that this disease association is independent of HLA class I and class II variation. These data suggest that regulatory polymorphisms of cytokine genes can affect the outcome of severe infection. The maintenance of the TNF2 allele at a gene frequency of 0.16 in The Gambia implies that the increased risk of cerebral malaria in homozygotes is counterbalanced by some biological advantage.

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A preliminary study of gag-specific, MHC-restricted CD8+ CTL has been performed in nine Gambian patients infected with HIV2. Such CTL were present in at least 55% of patients in fresh peripheral blood mononuclear cells without the requirement for in vitro restimulation. We have identified a nonamer peptide from HIV2 gag that is recognized by CD8+ HLA-B53 CTL using an amino acid sequence motif predicted from analysis of endogenous peptides eluted from HLA-B53 molecules. This peptide, from an HIV2/SIV conserved sequence, has previously been reported to be recognized by CTL from non-human primates vaccinated with recombinant vaccinia virus expressing the gag protein of SIV or infected with SIV virus. HLA-B53-restricted, HIV2 gag-specific CTL did not recognize target cells expressing HIV1 gag proteins, indicating that no cellular cross protection to HIV1 could be expected in this case.

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The protective effect of alpha thalassaemia (-alpha/alpha alpha) against morbidity from falciparum malaria was assessed in a prospective study of rural Gambian children. The gene frequency for single alpha-globin gene deletions was 0.12. Malariometric indices measured during cross-sectional surveys and morbidity from malaria determined by weekly surveillance were similar in children with alpha thalassaemia and in those with a normal alpha-globin genotype. However, the small number of children who carried both alpha thalassaemia and the sickle cell trait had fewer clinical episodes of malaria than children with the sickle cell trait alone. Specific antibody responses and cell-mediated immune responses in vitro to defined Plasmodium falciparum antigens were measured in children participating in the study. In general, there was no evidence of an increased prevalence or intensity of humoral or cell-mediated immune responses to the malaria antigens studied in children heterozygous for alpha thalassaemia compared with children with a normal alpha-globin genotype.

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The protective association between the human leukocyte antigen HLA-B53 and severe malaria was investigated by sequencing of peptides eluted from this molecule followed by screening of candidate epitopes from pre-erythrocytic-stage antigens of Plasmodium falciparum in biochemical and cellular assays. Among malaria-immune Africans, HLA-B53-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes recognized a conserved nonamer peptide from liver-stage-specific antigen-1 (LSA-1), but no HLA-B53-restricted epitopes were identified in other antigens. These findings indicate a possible molecular basis for this HLA-disease association and support the candidacy of liver-stage-specific antigen-1 as a malaria vaccine component.

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Molecular HLA class II typing of greater than 1700 individuals from The Gambia in West Africa and Malawi in South-Central Africa revealed a striking diversity of HLA DRB-DQB haplotypes as defined by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP); this diversity is twice as extensive as that found in northern Europeans. Despite this diversity, sequence and PCR/oligonucleotide analysis showed that the recently described variant DRB1*1304 is the commonest DRB1 allele in The Gambia. The sequence, geographical distribution, and RFLP association of this allele, together with homozygosity test results, suggest that DRB1*1304 may have arisen from DRB1*1102 and have reached its remarkably high frequency as a result of recent directional selection. The prevalence of this unusual allele has implications for trials of subunit vaccines in this area. The extensive and distinctive HLA class II region polymorphism in sub-Saharan Africans is consistent with evidence from other genetic loci implying an African origin of modern Homo sapiens.

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A total of 752 individuals from The Gambia, west Africa who are representative of the major ethnic groups in the capital, Banjul, were serologically typed for HLA-A, -B, and -C antigens. Although all were typically "African" in their antigenic profiles, some marked frequency differences were found between the ethnic groups. Genetic distance comparisons with several other African populations showed that, although these west African populations clustered closely together, the positions of the various ethnic groups in The Gambia were consistent with historical and linguistic evidence of their affinities with one another and with other African populations. Despite the potential confounding effects both of selection by infectious diseases and of genetic drift caused by local differences in population structure, HLA frequencies appear to be of value in measuring inter- and intraregional population affinities in sub-Saharan Africa.

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