Plasmodium vivax, a Human Malaria Parasite Resilient to Elimination
Why is it so difficult to eliminate the "forgotten" malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax? The PvREX research group at ISGlobal and IGTP presents recent scientific data.
At the IGTP TODAY
Why is it so difficult to eliminate the "forgotten" malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax? The PvREX research group at ISGlobal and IGTP presents recent scientific data.
To better understand the complexity of P. vivax infections, the CaixaResearch project "Novel organ-on-a-chip technology to study extracellular vesicles-mediated cryptic infections in Plasmodium vivax malaria" has produced this video to disseminate key insights into cryptic erythrocytic infections. The initiative is led by Hernando A del Portillo and Carmen Fernandez-Becerra, group leaders of the Plasmodium vivax and Exosome Research Group (PvREX) at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) in Spain.
A collaborative document outlining new guidelines for the isolation and characterisation of extracellular vesicles in parasitic disease research has been published in the Journal of Extracellular Biology. A research group from IGTP and ISGlobal contributed to the study, which could enhance our understanding of host-parasite interactions and advance early diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of parasite-caused diseases.
Using a mouse model, the research team characterized the protein profile of small vesicles secreted by liver cells, where the latent form of the parasite hides.
The project, led by Hernando A del Portillo, is one of the 30 projects selected from over 600 proposals presented in the 2021 call. The "CaixaResearch" programme on Health Research has selected 30 new cutting-edge biomedical research projects in Spain and Portugal, including the one led by Hernando A del Portillo, ICREA researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and co-affiliated with the Germans Trias i Pujol Institute (IGTP).
The Plasmodium vivax and Exosome Research Group (PVREX) has worked closely with the Cytometry Core Facility of the IGTP to use multiparameter cytometry combined with cell purification techniques to study the complex cell populations in the human spleen. The study published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology also looked at the interactions extracellular vesicles taken from plasma from patients with Plasmodium vivax infections, a parasite which causes malaria, and the different types of spleen cells. This is the first time this type of study has been done using spleen samples from donors.
The new studies change the accepted facts about the biology of Plasmodium vivax, a parasite that causes an often chronic and sometimes fatal form of malaria. The work focuses on the spleen, which has been thought to be the organ that cleared malaria parasites from the blood; the new data shows that in fact it is a reservoir and nursery for the parasite. This work can explain why malaria caused by P. vivax can have a latent liver form responsible for clinical relapses together with intrasplenic parasites likely responsible for chronic asymptomatic infections, thus providing new avenues for alternative control strategies.
Three groups from the IGTP have collaborated on a study of the parasite Plasmodium vivax with several Brazilian groups. The paper published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases provides proof of the presence of P. vivax in bone marrow during infections, something which has been controversial until now. They also showed that it disrupts normal red blood cell production, as well as altering the immune response.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) that circulate in the blood of Chagas disease patients are a valuable tool to identify potential markers of therapeutic response, according to a study led by researchers at the ISGlobal, an institution supported by "la Caixa", and the IGTP. With this strategy, the research team identified for the first time a series of proteins, including one from the parasite, that could serve to assess the response to existing or new treatments
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a role in the pathogenesis of malaria vivax, according to a study led by researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by "la Caixa", and the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP). The study was carried out at the Can Ruti Campus with the participation of the Genomics Facility of the IGTP, the Nephrology Service of the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital and researchers from the AIDS Research Institute, IrsiCaixa. The findings, published in Nature Communications, indicate that EVs from P. vivax patients communicate with spleen fibroblasts promoting the adhesion of parasite-infected red blood cells. These data provide important insights into the pathology of vivax malaria.