ArticlePloS one2011
A role for fetal hemoglobin and maternal immune IgG in infant resistance to Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
Article in PloS one, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers.
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Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 99 citations in OpenAlex.
- Does anthropometric status at 6 months predict the over-dispersion of malaria infections in children aged 6-18 months? A prospective cohort study.Malaria journal · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Malaria in children aged <6 months: a narrative review of current evidence, recommendations and practice gaps.Tropical medicine and health · 2026Review
- Congenital Malaria in Non-Endemic Settings: A Literature Review and Update on Diagnosis and Management.Journal of travel medicine · 2026Article
- Congenital and Neonatal Malaria in Ethiopia: A Narrative Review.Journal of parasitology research · 2026Review
- Human genetic variations conferring resistance to malaria.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Neonatal and congenital malaria (NCM): a case series in the Tigray region, northern Ethiopia.Malaria journal · 2025Article
- Fetal hemoglobin enables malaria parasite growth in sickle cells but augments production of transmission stage parasites.PloS one · 2025Article
- Mature beyond their years: young children who escape detection of parasitemia despite living in settings of intense malaria transmission.Biochemical Society transactions · 2024Review
- Efficient transplacental transfer of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies between naturally exposed mothers and infants in Accra, Ghana.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Immune responses to P falciparum antibodies in symptomatic malaria patients with variant hemoglobin genotypes in Ghana.BMC immunology · 2024Article
- F-erythrocytes promote Plasmodium falciparum proliferation in sickle cell disease.American journal of hematology · 2023Article
- Malaria in newborn: A missed entity for primary care physician.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2023Review
- Plasmodium falciparum infection and disease in infancy associated with increased risk of malaria and anaemia in childhood.Malaria journal · 2023Article
- Acquisition of complement fixing antibodies targetingFrontiers in immunology · 2023Article
- Dynamics of IgG antibody response againstFrontiers in immunology · 2023Article
- Does fetal hemoglobin inhibit the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum?American journal of hematology · 2022Article
- Age-Related Changes in Malaria Clinical Phenotypes During Infancy Are Modified by Sickle Cell Trait.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2021Article
- Suspected Severe Malaria in a Sudanese Patient Affected by Sickle Cell Disease Who Was Treated with Hydroxyurea.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Determinants of the varied profiles of Plasmodium falciparum infections among infants living in Kintampo, Ghana.Malaria journal · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn Africa, infant susceptibility to Plasmodium falciparum malaria increases substantially as fetal hemoglobin (HbF) and maternal immune IgG disappear from circulation. During the first few months of life, however, resistance to malaria is evidenced by extremely low parasitemias, the absence of fever, and the almost complete lack of severe disease. This resistance has previously been attributed in part to poor parasite growth in HbF-containing red blood cells (RBCs). A specific role for maternal immune IgG in infant resistance to malaria has been hypothesized but not yet identified. METHODS AND
findingsWe found that P. falciparum parasites invade and develop normally in fetal (cord blood, CB) RBCs, which contain up to 95% HbF. However, these parasitized CB RBCs are impaired in their binding to human microvascular endothelial cells (MVECs), monocytes, and nonparasitized RBCs--cytoadherence interactions that have been implicated in the development of high parasite densities and the symptoms of malaria. Abnormal display of the parasite's cytoadherence antigen P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein-1 (PfEMP-1) on CB RBCs accounts for these findings and is reminiscent of that on HbC and HbS RBCs. IgG purified from the plasma of immune Malian adults almost completely abolishes the adherence of parasitized CB RBCs to MVECs.
conclusionsOur data suggest a model of malaria protection in which HbF and maternal IgG act cooperatively to impair the cytoadherence of parasitized RBCs in the first few months of life. In highly malarious areas of Africa, an infant's contemporaneous expression of HbC or HbS and development of an immune IgG repertoire may effectively reconstitute the waning protective effects of HbF and maternal immune IgG, thereby extending the malaria resistance of infancy into early childhood.
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