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Infection and Immunity, March 2000, p. 1183-1188, Vol. 68, No. 3
Department of Medical Zoology, Dokkyo
University School of Medicine, Tochigi,1
Tsukuba Primate Center for Medical Sciences,
Ibaraki,2 Department of Bioregulation,
Mie University School of Medicine, Mie,3 and
Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Tokai University,
Kanagawa,4 Japan
Received 14 September 1999/Returned for modification 4 November
1999/Accepted 15 November 1999
The intraerythrocytic stage of the simian malaria parasite
Plasmodium coatneyi (CDC strain) was intravenously
inoculated into two species of macaques with different susceptibilities
to infection with this parasite, including four Japanese macaques
(Macaca fuscata) and three cynomolgus macaques (M. fascicularis). The Japanese macaques infected with P. coatneyi developed severe clinical manifestations similar to
those of severe human malaria and eventually became moribund, while the
infected cynomolgus macaques, natural hosts of the parasite, exhibited
no severe manifestation of disease except anemia and finally recovered
from the infection. In the infected Japanese macaques, peripheral
CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell populations were markedly
decreased and fragmentation of chromosomal DNA in peripheral blood
mononuclear cells was detected during the terminal period of infection,
suggesting that apoptotic cell death was responsible at least in part
for the T lymphocytopenia. Furthermore, soluble Fas ligand levels in
sera of the infected Japanese macaques increased gradually to a
markedly high level of 28.83 ± 10.56 pg/ml (n = 4) when the animals became moribund. On the other hand, none of the
infected cynomolgus monkeys exhibited either T lymphocytopenia or
elevated soluble Fas ligand level. These findings suggest that
differences in immune response between the two species of macaque
tested accounted for the contrasting outcomes after infection with the
same isolate of malarial parasite, and in particular that a profound T
lymphocytopenia due to Fas-derived apoptosis played a role in the fatal
course of malaria in the infected Japanese macaques.
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Malaria Infection Induces Rapid Elevation of the
Soluble Fas Ligand Level in Serum and Subsequent T Lymphocytopenia:
Possible Factors Responsible for the Differences in Susceptibility of
Two Species of Macaca Monkeys to Plasmodium
coatneyi Infection
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Medical Zoology, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Mibu, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan. Phone: (81) 282-87-2134. Fax: (81) 282-86-6431. E-mail: junmatsu{at}dokkyomed.ac.jp.
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