Homozygosity for the CD1E*02 allele is associated with a resistance to Plasmodium falciparum malaria infection in Gabonese school children

Landry-Erik Mombo; Francine Ntoumi; Cyrille Bisseye; Rajendranath Ramasawmy; Pascal Millet; Ryad Tamouza

doi:10.1016/j.apjtm.2017.01.017

Homozygosity for the CD1E*02 allele is associated with a resistance to Plasmodium falciparum malaria infection in Gabonese school children

Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2017 Feb;10(2):204-207. doi: 10.1016/j.apjtm.2017.01.017. Epub 2017 Jan 20.

Authors

Landry-Erik Mombo¹, Francine Ntoumi², Cyrille Bisseye², Rajendranath Ramasawmy³, Pascal Millet², Ryad Tamouza³

Affiliations

¹ Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP 769, Franceville, Gabon; INSERM U458, Hôpital Robert Debré, 48 Bd Sérurier, 75019, Paris, France. Electronic address: lemombo.ustm@gmail.com.
² Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), BP 769, Franceville, Gabon.
³ Laboratoire d'Immunologie et d'Histocompatibilité AP-HP, IUH and INSERM U662, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, France.

PMID: 28237491
DOI: 10.1016/j.apjtm.2017.01.017

Abstract

Objective: To explore the possible association between polymorphisms in CD1 genes and both asymptomatic and mild Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Methods: Two clusters of 85 school children, from the village of Dienga (Gabon) were investigated. The first group was analysed for the prevalence and the multiplicity of asymptomatic P. falciparum infection, whereas the second group was screened for the frequency of malarial attacks.

Results: Our findings showed that homozygosity for the CD1E*02 allele was associated with a low frequency of malarial attacks. Furthermore, a strong association between CD1E*02 homozygotes and the resistance to multiple malarial attacks was identified. The CD1A*01 allele showed a weak association with a small number of malarial attacks.

Conclusion: Our results suggest a possible role of CD1E polymorphisms in malaria protection among school children and that CD1e molecules are involved in anti-malarial immunity.

Keywords: CD1A; CD1E; GPI; Gabon; Malaria.