Seroepidemiology of Plasmodium falciparum, human immunodeficiency virus and human T-cell leukemia virus infections in mothers and their infants in Zimbabwe

Mutambu, Susan L.

Seroepidemiology of Plasmodium falciparum, human immunodeficiency virus and human T-cell leukemia virus infections in mothers and their infants in Zimbabwe

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Date

1995

Authors

Mutambu, Susan L.

Abstract

Matched blood samples from parturients and their neonates were screened for malaria parasites and analyzed for P. falciparum immunoglobulin G (IgG), IgM, IgE, human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) and human T-cell leukemia viruses-I/II (HTLV-I/II) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western immunoblot. Three paired sera were positive for P. falciparum parasites, and the ELISA positivity rates for P. falciparum IgG, IgM, and IgE antibodies for maternal sera were 50.2%, 91.2% and 22.7%, respectively whereas those for cord sera were 24.9%, 14.9% and 2.7%, respectively. Overall cord antibody positivity rates were independent of maternal antibodies. P. falciparum IgG antibody rates by ELISA were not influenced by parity for parities 1 to 6 or greater but were related to parity when parity was grouped into parity 1 and 2 or greater. IgG antibody production was not significantly related to maternal age. P. falciparum IgG, IgM and IgE antibody positivity rates by immunoblot were 78.1%, 39.6% and 1.33% for maternal sera and 72.5%, 14.3% and 1.33% for cord sera, respectively. Matched maternal and cord sera with very strong to strong IgG immunoblot reactivities showed near homology for each pair. The most prevalent and strong antigen complexes in the positive IgG immunoblots were 195- to 170-, 91- to 75- and 48-kDa. There was no homology for each pair in the immunoblots of P. falciparum IgM antibody positive sera. The antigen complexes that were most frequent and strongly recognized by IgM immunoblot positive sera were 91- to 75and 21-kDa. P. falciparum IgM and IgG antibodies were copositive in 33% of the maternal sera tested by immunoblot. The HIV-1 seropositivity rates for maternal sera were 48.7% and 34.9% by ELISA and Western blot respectively. Women aged 31 to 35 years had the highest rates of HIV-1 infection. The positivity rates for HTLV-I/II in the parturients were 87% by ELISA and either negative (48.4%) or indeterminate (56.2%) by Western immunoblot for HTLV-I/II antigen, suggesting possible early infection with the viruses. P. falciparum IgG antibody reactivity with parasite antigen was observed in 49.1% and 91.7% of matched pairs that were HIV-1 IgG positive and HIV-1 IgG negative respectively in immunoblot assays. Less bands of lower intensity were formed on immunoblots of the former than the latter. These differences in reactivities were highly significant (z=3.97, p<0.00) and suggestive of P. falciparum IgG antibody immunosuppression by HIV-1 infection.

Description

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1995.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-129).
Microfiche.
xi, 129 leaves, bound ill., maps, photos. 29 cm

Keywords

Plasmodium falciparum -- Zimbabwe, HTLV (Viruses) -- Zimbabwe, Immunodeficiency -- Zimbabwe, Maternal and infant welfare -- Zimbabwe

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10125/9443

Related To

Theses for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (University of Hawaii at Manoa). Biomedical Sciences (Tropical Medicine); no. 3272

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Ph.D. - Biomedical Sciences (Tropical Medicine)

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