Patterns in Age-Seroprevalence Consistent with Acquired Immunity against Trypanosoma brucei in Serengeti Lions |
| |
| Authors: | Sue Welburn Kim Picozzi Paul G. Coleman Craig Packer |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Centre for Infectious Disease, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.; 2. Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.; 3. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Minnesota, United States of America.;Yale University School of Medicine, United States of America |
| |
| Abstract: | Trypanosomes cause disease in humans and livestock throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Although various species show evidence of clinical tolerance to trypanosomes, until now there has been no evidence of acquired immunity to natural infections. We discovered a distinct peak and decrease in age prevalence of T. brucei s.l. infection in wild African lions that is consistent with being driven by an exposure-dependent increase in cross-immunity following infections with the more genetically diverse species, T. congolense sensu latu. The causative agent of human sleeping sickness, T. brucei rhodesiense, disappears by 6 years of age apparently in response to cross-immunity from other trypanosomes, including the non-pathogenic subspecies, T. brucei brucei. These findings may suggest novel pathways for vaccinations against trypanosomiasis despite the notoriously complex antigenic surface proteins in these parasites. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
