Evaluating antibody functional activity and strain-specificity of vaccine candidates for malaria in pregnancy using in vitro phagocytosis assays

Abstract

Background: Malaria in pregnancy is a major cause of poor maternal and infant health, and is associated with the sequestration of P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes (IE) in the placenta. The leading vaccine candidate for pregnancy malaria, VAR2CSA, has been shown to induce antibodies that inhibit IE adhesion to the placental receptor chondroitin sulfate A (CSA), potentially preventing placental infection. However, the ability of vaccination-induced antibodies to promote opsonic phagocytosis is not well defined, but likely to be an important component of protective immunity. Methods: We investigated the use of an opsonic phagocytosis assay to evaluate antibodies induced by pregnancy malaria ..