Xuenan Xuan
Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Japan
Title: Babesia microti confers macrophage-based cross-protective immunity against Plasmodium chabaudi infection in mice
Biography
Biography: Xuenan Xuan
Abstract
Climate change is expected to critically affect the geographic range and incidence of arthropod-borne infectious diseases, including malaria and babesiosis, which have been recently reported in human co-infection cases. Babesia microti infection has been shown to protect mice and primates against lethal Plasmodium infections; however the immune mechanism behind this cross-protection remains unknown. Here, we investigated the effect of primary B. microti infection on the outcome of a subsequent P. chabaudi challenge in BALB/c mice. Although simultaneous infection leads to high mortality, mice with various stages of B. microti infection were completely protected against P. chabaudi, exhibiting decreased levels of antibodies and pro-inflammatory cytokines. SCID and NK cell-depleted mice- but not macrophage-depleted mice were also protected, indicating that cross-protection relies upon the function of macrophages. Further research is necessary to obtain a better understanding of the malaria-suppressing effects of babesiosis, with a view toward developing novel tools to control malaria.