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  • Title: Age-dependent distribution of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes quantified by Pfs25 real-time QT-NASBA in a cross-sectional study in Burkina Faso.
    Author: Ouédraogo AL, Schneider P, de Kruijf M, Nébié I, Verhave JP, Cuzin-Ouattara N, Sauerwein RW.
    Journal: Am J Trop Med Hyg; 2007 Apr; 76(4):626-30. PubMed ID: 17426160.
    Abstract:
    Sexual stages of Plasmodium falciparum play a key role in the transmission of malaria. Studies on gametocytes are generally based on microscopic detection, but more sensitive detection methods for P. falciparum gametocytes frequently detect sub-patent gametocytes. We used Pfs25 mRNA quantitative-nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (QT-NASBA) to quantify gametocytes in 412 samples from a cross-sectional study in Burkina Faso, covering all age groups, to determine age-related patterns in gametocyte carriage and gametocyte density. The more sensitive QT-NASBA technique gave estimates of gametocyte prevalence 3.3-fold higher than microscopy (70.1% versus 21.4%, respectively). Prevalence of gametocytes significantly decreased with age. Our data suggest that asexual parasite densities are primarily responsible for the age-related decrease of gametocyte prevalence, possibly because of developing asexual stage immunity. Gametocyte densities decrease also with age, primarily because of decreasing asexual parasite densities; only a small but significant age effect on gametocyte density may be caused by developing sexual stage-specific immunity.
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