Levels of antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite surface antigens reflect malaria transmission rates and are persistent in the absence of reinfection

Abstract

Antibodies reacting with Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite surface antigens were measured by an immunofluorescence assay using wet preparations of sporozoites attached to poly-L-lysine-treated glass slides, a procedure which was found to be more specific than one using glutaraldehyde-treated and dried preparations. Subjects recovering from a first attack were found to be negative. In two African villages which differed in the level at which mosquitoes transmit the disease (1 and 100 infective bites per year and per individual), both the prevalence by age group and the levels of anti-sporozoite antibodies differed markedly, as follows. In the low-transmission area, these antibodies were not detected in subjects aged 2 to 10 years; thereafter, prevalence increased gradually with the age of the subject and reached 90% in subjects aged 50 to 80 years. In the high-transmission area, all of the subjects studied, including the younger ones, were positive. Anti-sporozoite antibody levels were independent of the levels of antibodies directed against blood stages. On average, the mean antibody titers were equal to 1/16 in the first village and 1/1,650 in the second one. These results suggest that stage-specific antibodies reflect the cumulative number of sporozoites inoculated in humans by mosquitoes and may therefore have useful epidemiological applications. In addition, the presence of stage-specific antibodies in the sera of African adults collected at different times after departure from the endemic area indicates that they may last for several years. During the course of this study, we observed a heterogeneity of immunofluorescence labeling in parasite populations prepared from mosquito salivary glands. This raises the question of possible qualitative or quantitative antigenic differences or both between one sporozoite and the other.