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Gartner V, Redelings BD, Gaither C, Parr JB, Kalonji A, Phanzu F, Brazeau NF, Juliano JJ, Wray GA. Genomic insights into Plasmodium vivax population structure and diversity in central Africa. Malar J 2024; 23:27. [PMID: 38238806 PMCID: PMC10797969 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-024-04852-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Though Plasmodium vivax is the second most common malaria species to infect humans, it has not traditionally been considered a major human health concern in central Africa given the high prevalence of the human Duffy-negative phenotype that is believed to prevent infection. Increasing reports of asymptomatic and symptomatic infections in Duffy-negative individuals throughout Africa raise the possibility that P. vivax is evolving to evade host resistance, but there are few parasite samples with genomic data available from this part of the world. METHODS Whole genome sequencing of one new P. vivax isolate from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was performed and used in population genomics analyses to assess how this central African isolate fits into the global context of this species. RESULTS Plasmodium vivax from DRC is similar to other African populations and is not closely related to the non-human primate parasite P. vivax-like. Evidence is found for a duplication of the gene PvDBP and a single copy of PvDBP2. CONCLUSION These results suggest an endemic P. vivax population is present in central Africa. Intentional sampling of P. vivax across Africa would further contextualize this sample within African P. vivax diversity and shed light on the mechanisms of infection in Duffy negative individuals. These results are limited by the uncertainty of how representative this single sample is of the larger population of P. vivax in central Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerie Gartner
- Biology Department, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
- University Program in Genetics and Genomics, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Benjamin D Redelings
- Biology Department, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA
- Ronin Institute, Durham, NC, 27705, USA
| | | | | | - Albert Kalonji
- SANRU Asbl, 149 A/B, Boulevard du 30 Juin, Kinshasa, Gombe, Democratic Republic of Congo
| | - Fernandine Phanzu
- SANRU Asbl, 149 A/B, Boulevard du 30 Juin, Kinshasa, Gombe, Democratic Republic of Congo
| | | | | | - Gregory A Wray
- Biology Department, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
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Lo E, Russo G, Pestana K, Kepple D, Abagero BR, Dongho GBD, Gunalan K, Miller LH, Hamid MMA, Yewhalaw D, Paganotti GM. Contrasting epidemiology and genetic variation of Plasmodium vivax infecting Duffy-negative individuals across Africa. Int J Infect Dis 2021; 108:63-71. [PMID: 33991680 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Revised: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Plasmodium vivax malaria was thought to be rare in Africans who lack the Duffy blood group antigen expression. However, recent studies indicate that P. vivax can infect Duffy-negative individuals and has spread into areas of high Duffy negativity across Africa. Our study compared epidemiological and genetic features of P. vivax between African regions. METHODS A standardized approach was used to identify and quantify P. vivax from Botswana, Ethiopia, and Sudan, where Duffy-positive and Duffy-negative individuals coexist. The study involved sequencing the Duffy binding protein (DBP) gene and inferring genetic relationships among P. vivax populations across Africa. RESULTS Among 1215 febrile patients, the proportions of Duffy negativity ranged from 20-36% in East Africa to 84% in southern Africa. Average P. vivax prevalence among Duffy-negative populations ranged from 9.2% in Sudan to 86% in Botswana. Parasite density in Duffy-negative infections was significantly lower than in Duffy-positive infections. P. vivax in Duffy-negative populations were not monophyletic, with P. vivax in Duffy-negative and Duffy-positive populations sharing similar DBP haplotypes and occurring in multiple, well-supported clades. CONCLUSIONS Duffy-negative Africans are not resistant to P. vivax, and the public health significance of this should not be neglected. Our study highlights the need for a standardized approach and more resources/training directed towards the diagnosis of vivax malaria in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugenia Lo
- Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA.
| | - Gianluca Russo
- Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
| | - Kareen Pestana
- Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA
| | - Daniel Kepple
- Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA
| | - Beka Raya Abagero
- Tropical Infectious Disease Research Center, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
| | - Ghyslaine Bruna Djeunang Dongho
- Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy; Evangelical University of Cameroon, Bandjoun, Cameroon
| | | | - Louis H Miller
- Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, NIAID/NIH, Bethesda, USA
| | - Muzamil Mahdi Abdel Hamid
- Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology, Institute of Endemic Diseases, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan
| | - Delenasaw Yewhalaw
- Tropical Infectious Disease Research Center, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
| | - Giacomo Maria Paganotti
- Botswana-University of Pennsylvania Partnership, Gaborone, Botswana; Division of Infectious Diseases, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana
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Kepple D, Pestana K, Tomida J, Abebe A, Golassa L, Lo E. Alternative Invasion Mechanisms and Host Immune Response to Plasmodium vivax Malaria: Trends and Future Directions. Microorganisms 2020; 9:E15. [PMID: 33374596 PMCID: PMC7822457 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9010015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Revised: 12/19/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Plasmodium vivax malaria is a neglected tropical disease, despite being more geographically widespread than any other form of malaria. The documentation of P. vivax infections in different parts of Africa where Duffy-negative individuals are predominant suggested that there are alternative pathways for P. vivax to invade human erythrocytes. Duffy-negative individuals may be just as fit as Duffy-positive individuals and are no longer resistant to P.vivax malaria. In this review, we describe the complexity of P. vivax malaria, characterize pathogenesis and candidate invasion genes of P. vivax, and host immune responses to P. vivax infections. We provide a comprehensive review on parasite ligands in several Plasmodium species that further justify candidate genes in P. vivax. We also summarize previous genomic and transcriptomic studies related to the identification of ligand and receptor proteins in P. vivax erythrocyte invasion. Finally, we identify topics that remain unclear and propose future studies that will greatly contribute to our knowledge of P. vivax.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Kepple
- Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA; (K.P.); (J.T.)
| | - Kareen Pestana
- Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA; (K.P.); (J.T.)
| | - Junya Tomida
- Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA; (K.P.); (J.T.)
| | - Abnet Abebe
- Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia;
| | - Lemu Golassa
- Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia;
| | - Eugenia Lo
- Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA; (K.P.); (J.T.)
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Oboh MA, Badiane AS, Ntadom G, Ndiaye YD, Diongue K, Diallo MA, Ndiaye D. Molecular identification of Plasmodium species responsible for malaria reveals Plasmodium vivax isolates in Duffy negative individuals from southwestern Nigeria. Malar J 2018; 17:439. [PMID: 30486887 PMCID: PMC6263541 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-018-2588-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2018] [Accepted: 11/22/2018] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Malaria in Nigeria is principally due to Plasmodium falciparum and, to a lesser extent to Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale. Plasmodium vivax is thought to be absent in Nigeria in particular and sub-Saharan Africa in general, due to the near fixation of the Duffy negative gene in this population. Nevertheless, there are frequent reports of P. vivax infection in Duffy negative individuals in the sub-region, including reports from two countries sharing border with Nigeria to the west (Republic of Benin) and east (Cameroon). Additionally, there were two cases of microscopic vivax-like malaria from Nigerian indigenous population. Hence molecular surveillance of the circulating Plasmodium species in two states (Lagos and Edo) of southwestern Nigeria was carried out. METHODS A cross-sectional survey between September 2016 and March 2017 was conducted. 436 febrile patients were included for the present work. Venous blood of these patients was subjected to RDT as well as microscopy. Further, parasite DNA was isolated from positive samples and PCR diagnostic was employed followed by direct sequencing of the 18S rRNA of Plasmodium species as well as sequencing of a portion of the promoter region of the Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines. Samples positive for P. vivax were re-amplified several times and finally using the High Fidelity Taq to rule out any bias introduced. RESULTS Of the 256 (58.7%) amplifiable malaria parasite DNA, P. falciparum was, as expected, the major cause of infection, either alone 85.5% (219/256; 97 from Edo and 122 from Lagos), or mixed with P. malariae 6.3% (16/256) or with P. vivax 1.6% (4/256). Only one of the five P. vivax isolates was found to be a single infection. DNA sequencing and subsequent alignment of the 18S rRNA of P. vivax with the reference strains displayed very high similarities (100%). Remarkably, the T-33C was identified in all P. vivax samples, thus confirming that all vivax-infected patients in the current study are Duffy negative. CONCLUSION The present study gave the first molecular evidence of P. vivax in Nigeria in Duffy negative individuals. Though restricted to two states; Edo in South-South and Lagos in South-west Nigeria, the real burden of this species in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa might have been underestimated, hence there is need to put in place a country-wide, as well as a sub-Saharan Africa-wide surveillance and appropriate control measures.
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MESH Headings
- Child, Preschool
- Cross-Sectional Studies
- DNA, Protozoan/chemistry
- DNA, Protozoan/genetics
- DNA, Ribosomal/chemistry
- DNA, Ribosomal/genetics
- Duffy Blood-Group System/genetics
- Female
- Humans
- Infant
- Infant, Newborn
- Malaria, Vivax/epidemiology
- Malaria, Vivax/parasitology
- Male
- Nigeria/epidemiology
- Plasmodium vivax/classification
- Plasmodium vivax/genetics
- Plasmodium vivax/isolation & purification
- RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/genetics
- Receptors, Cell Surface/genetics
- Sequence Analysis, DNA
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Aigbiremo Oboh
- Parasitology and Mycology Laboratory, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal.
| | - Aida Sadikh Badiane
- Parasitology and Mycology Laboratory, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal
| | - Godwin Ntadom
- National Malaria Elimination Programme/Epidemiology Division, Department of Public Health, Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, Nigeria
| | - Yaye Die Ndiaye
- Parasitology and Mycology Laboratory, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal
| | - Khadim Diongue
- Parasitology and Mycology Laboratory, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal
| | - Mamadou Alpha Diallo
- Parasitology and Mycology Laboratory, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal
| | - Daouda Ndiaye
- Parasitology and Mycology Laboratory, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal
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