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Summary: IFN- and IL-10 Mediate Parasite-Specific Immune Responses
of Cord Blood Cells Induced by Pregnancy-Associated
Plasmodium falciparum Malaria1
Kim Brustoski,*
Ulrike Mošller,
Martin Kramer,
Annika Petelski,
Stephan Brenner,
Dupeh R. Palmer,
Martina Bongartz,* Peter G. Kremsner,*
Adrian J. F. Luty,*
and
Urszula Krzych2
Available evidence suggests that immune cells from neonates born to mothers with placental Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) infection
are sensitized to parasite Ag in utero but have reduced ability to generate protective Th1 responses. In this study, we detected Pf
Ag-specific IFN- T cells in cord blood from human neonates whose mothers had received treatment for malaria or who had
active placental Pf infection at delivery, with responses being significantly reduced in the latter group. Active placental malaria
at delivery was also associated with reduced expression of monocyte MHC class I and II in vivo and following short term in vitro
coculture with Pf Ag compared with levels seen in neonates whose mothers had received treatment during pregnancy. Given that
APC activation and Th1 responses are driven in part by IFN- and down-regulated by IL-10, we examined the role of these
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