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. 2023 Jan 20;9(1):e13092.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13092. eCollection 2023 Jan.

Susceptibility to malaria in fulani, Bariba, Otamari and gando individuals living in sympatry in Benin: Role of opsonizing antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum merozoites

Abdou Khadre Dit Jadir Fall  1 , Ikhlaq Hussain Kana  2   3 , Asier Garcia-Senosiain  2   3 , Benoît Henry  4 , Célia Dechavanne  1 , André Garcia  1 , Pierre Buffet  4   5 , Audrey Sabbagh  1 , Florence Migot-Nabias  1 , Michael Theisen  2   3 , David Courtin  1
Affiliations

Susceptibility to malaria in fulani, Bariba, Otamari and gando individuals living in sympatry in Benin: Role of opsonizing antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum merozoites

Abdou Khadre Dit Jadir Fall et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Objectives: Fulani in Africa are known to be less susceptible to Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) malaria. This study explored a potential involvement of antibody-mediated merozoite phagocytosis mechanism in this natural protection against malaria.

Methods: Before the start of the malaria transmission season (MTS) in Benin, the functionality of antibodies against Pf merozoites was determined by the opsonic phagocytosis (OP) assay in plasma samples from Fulani, Bariba, Otamari and Gando groups. These individuals were actively followed-up for malaria detection from the beginning to the end of MTS. Anti-GLURP Immunoglobulin G antibody quantification, malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) and spleen palpation were performed before and after MTS.

Results: In Bariba, Otamari and Gando, but not in Fulani, plasma from adults promoted higher levels of OP than the children (P = 0.003; P = 0.012; P = 0.031 and P = 0.122). A high proportion of Fulani children had higher OP and anti-GLURP (P < 0.0001) antibody levels as compared to non-Fulani children; whereas this was not observed for Fulani adults (P = 0.223). High OP levels before MTS were significantly related to negative RDT after MTS (P = 0.011).

Conclusion: Our results highlight the ability of opsonizing antibodies to potentially enhance natural protection of young Fulani individuals against Pf malaria in Benin.

Keywords: Benin; Fulani; Malaria resistance; Opsonic phagocytosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Comparison of OP values between Fulani, Bariba Otamari and Gando. The proportions of individuals with a low and a high level of opsonic phagocytosis (OP) were compared in each ethnic group. Chi-square test was used to compare distribution of low and high OP between Fulani and other ethnic groups.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Comparison of OP levels between adults and children in each ethnic group. The distribution of OP values was compared between children and adults from Fulani (D), Bariba (B), Otamari (A) and Gando (C) groups. Mann Whitney U test was used to compare values between adults and children in each ethnic group. THP-1 cells containing EtBr-stained merozoites determined the level of phagocytosis, which was expressed as the phagocytosis index (PI).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Comparison of OP levels of children and adults between Fulani, Gando, Bariba and Otamari. OP levels were compared among children (A, B) and adults (C, D) in each ethnic group. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the OP distribution (A, C) while Chi-square test was used to compare the proportion of individuals with high and low OP levels between Fulani and other ethnic groups (B, D).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Anti-GLURP IgG concentrations before and after MTS among ethnic groups. The proportions of individuals with low and high anti-GLURP IgG concentrations (below and over the median value) were compared in each group before (A) and after (B) the malaria transmission season. Chi-square test was used to compare the proportion of high and low anti-GLURP IgG levels between Fulani and other ethnic groups.
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