ArticleBMC medicine2014
Opsonic phagocytosis of Plasmodium falciparum merozoites: mechanism in human immunity and a correlate of protection against malaria.
Article in BMC medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 167 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
167 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 259 citations in OpenAlex.
- Iron Deficiency Is Associated With Reduced Levels of Plasmodium falciparum-specific Antibodies in African Children.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2021Pooled it
- Immunity as a predictor of anti-malarial treatment failure: a systematic review.Malaria journal · 2017Pooled it
- Induction, decay, and determinants of functional antibodies following vaccination with the RTS,S malaria vaccine in young children.BMC medicine · 2022Trial
- Contribution of Functional Antimalarial Immunity to Measures of Parasite Clearance in Therapeutic Efficacy Studies of Artemisinin Derivatives.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2019Trial
- Differential Patterns of IgG Subclass Responses toFrontiers in immunology · 2019Trial
- Baseline exposure, antibody subclass, and hepatitis B response differentially affect malaria protective immunity following RTS,S/AS01E vaccination in African children.BMC medicine · 2018Trial
- Malaria preventive therapy in pregnancy and its potential impact on immunity to malaria in an area of declining transmission.Malaria journal · 2015Trial
- The impact of lipid-based nutrient supplementation on anti-malarial antibodies in pregnant women in a randomized controlled trial.Malaria journal · 2015Trial
- Immunodominant B-cell epitopes for precision surveillance ofEmerging microbes & infections · 2026Article
- An abundant merozoite surface protein ofeLife · 2026Article
- The importance of phagocytosis and its effect on the immune system.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- The N-terminal region of malaria vaccine candidate asparagine-rich merozoite antigen is immunodominant and targeted by polyreactive antibodies.Disease models & mechanisms · 2026Article
- Cellular and molecular interactions underlying the peripheral immune responses to blood-stage malaria infections.ImmunoHorizons · 2026Review
- Helminth coinfections mitigate clinical, parasitological, and immune outcomes in Mozambican children with malaria.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- A longitudinal study of children identifies antibody Fc-mediated functions and antigen targets of immunity to Plasmodium vivax malaria.Immunity · 2026Article
- Relationship between antibody avidity, Fc-mediated functional activity and longevity of malaria vaccine responses in clinical trials.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Naturally acquired antibodies toFrontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- IgG and IgM responses to PfEMP1 domains associated with semi-immunity to clinical malaria in Burkinabe children under five.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Targeting a malaria merozoite surface protein with mRNA vaccine generates multifunctional antibodies.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- The N-terminal region of malaria vaccine candidatebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
107 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAn understanding of the mechanisms mediating protective immunity against malaria in humans is currently lacking, but critically important to advance the development of highly efficacious vaccines. Antibodies play a key role in acquired immunity, but the functional basis for their protective effect remains unclear. Furthermore, there is a strong need for immune correlates of protection against malaria to guide vaccine development.
methodsUsing a validated assay to measure opsonic phagocytosis of Plasmodium falciparum merozoites, we investigated the potential role of this functional activity in human immunity against clinical episodes of malaria in two independent cohorts (n = 109 and n = 287) experiencing differing levels of malaria transmission and evaluated its potential as a correlate of protection.
resultsAntibodies promoting opsonic phagocytosis of merozoites were cytophilic immunoglobulins (IgG1 and IgG3), induced monocyte activation and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and were directed against major merozoite surface proteins (MSPs). Consistent with protective immunity in humans, opsonizing antibodies were acquired with increasing age and malaria exposure, were boosted on re-infection, and levels were related to malaria transmission intensity. Opsonic phagocytosis was strongly associated with a reduced risk of clinical malaria in longitudinal studies in children with current or recent infections. In contrast, antibodies to the merozoite surface in standard immunoassays, or growth-inhibitory antibodies, were not significantly associated with protection. In multivariate analyses including several antibody responses, opsonic phagocytosis remained significantly associated with protection against malaria, highlighting its potential as a correlate of immunity. Furthermore, we demonstrate that human antibodies against MSP2 and MSP3 that are strongly associated with protection in this population are effective in opsonic phagocytosis of merozoites, providing a functional link between these antigen-specific responses and protection for the first time.
conclusionsOpsonic phagocytosis of merozoites appears to be an important mechanism contributing to protective immunity in humans. The opsonic phagocytosis assay appears to be a strong correlate of protection against malaria, a valuable biomarker of immunity, and provides a much-needed new tool for assessing responses to blood-stage malaria vaccines and measuring immunity in populations.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.