Hansen, Diana S., and Schofield, Louis (2010) Natural regulatory T cells in malaria: host or parasite allies? PLoS Pathogens, 6 (4). e100077. pp. 1-9.

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Abstract

Plasmodium falciparum malaria causes 500 million clinical cases with approximately one million deaths each year. After many years of exposure, individuals living in endemic areas develop a form of clinical immunity to disease known as premunition, which is characterised by low parasite burdens rather than sterilising immunity. The reason why malaria parasites persist under a state of premunition is unknown but it has been suggested that suppression of protective immunity might be a mechanism leading to parasite persistence. Although acquired immunity limits the clinical impact of infection and provides protection against parasite replication, experimental evidence indicates that cell-mediated immune responses also result in detrimental inflammation and contribute to the aetiology of severe disease. Thus, an appropriate regulatory balance between protective immune responses and immune-mediated pathology is required for a favourable outcome of infection. As natural regulatory T (T(reg)) cells are identified as an immunosuppressive lineage able to modulate the magnitude of effector responses, several studies have investigated whether this cell population plays a role in balancing protective immunity and pathogenesis during malaria. The main findings to date are summarised in this review and the implication for the induction of pathogenesis and immunity to malaria is discussed.

Item ID:	35861
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1553-7374
Additional Information:	© 2010 Hansen, Schofield. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funders:	National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
Projects and Grants:	NHMRC Grant No. 406601, NHMRC Grant No. 516735, NHMRC Grant No. 575538
Date Deposited:	31 Oct 2014 02:30
FoR Codes:	11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1103 Clinical Sciences > 110309 Infectious Diseases @ 50% 11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1107 Immunology > 110799 Immunology not elsewhere classified @ 50%
SEO Codes:	97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970111 Expanding Knowledge in the Medical and Health Sciences @ 100%
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