Plasmodium vivax and the Duffy antigen: a paradigm revisited.

O. Mercereau-Puijalon (1) , D. Ménard (1, 2)

1 Virulence Parasitaire
2 Institut Pasteur du Cambodge

The Duffy blood group antigen is the portal of entry of the Plasmodiumvivax malaria parasite into human red blood cells and the receptor for a number of CXC and CC chemokines. We review here epidemiological data and evidence derived from therapeutic or experimental human infections associating P. vivax and the Duffy glycoprotein and laboratory studies indicating that P. vivax uses the Duffy antigen as a receptor to invade the red cell. We then review recent field observations indicating that the conclusion of the absolute dependence on the presence of Duffy on the red cell for P. vivax infection and development into the red cell no longer holds true and that in some parts of the world, P. vivax infects and causes disease in Duffy-negative people.

Domains: Microbiology and Parasitology

O. Mercereau-Puijalon, D. Ménard. Plasmodium vivax and the Duffy antigen: a paradigm revisited.. Transfusion Clinique et Biologique, 2010, 17 (3), pp.176-83. ⟨10.1016/j.tracli.2010.06.005⟩. ⟨pasteur-00557028⟩