Journal of Vaccine & Immunotechnology
Review Article
Elevated Immune Responses an Evidence of Protection against Malaria Infection in Sickle Hemoglobin Individuals
Bwire GM1*, Majigo MV2, Nkinda L2
1Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania
*Address for Correspondence: Bwire GM, Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, School of Pharmacy, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Box 65013, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; E-mail: gbwire@muhas.ac.tz
Submission: 14 May, 2019;
Accepted: 09 August, 2019;
Published: 20 August 2019
Copyright: © 2019 Bwire GM, et al. This is an open access article
distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The development of malaria is partially inhibited in sickle
hemoglobin (HbS) individuals especially those with heterozygote trait
(HbAS) living in malaria endemic region. Factors such as immune
responses are associated with this protection. Therefore, this review
was conducted to describe the immunological mechanisms involved
in protecting HbS individuals against malaria infection. In summary,
immune factors contribute significantly in malaria protection; naturally,
HbS individuals are prevented from the parasites density through an
enhanced phagocytosis of the infected red blood cells in the spleen
as a result of an improved antigen presentation. Moreover, humoral
responses such as increased levels of Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and
cellular mediated responses i.e. cytokines (interleukin 6,8,10,12 and
tumor necrotic factors) protect HbS individuals from clinical malaria.
This review recommends that, sickle hemoglobin should be considered
when designing malaria vaccine trial.