In areas of intense Plasmodium falciparum transmission, protective immunity is acquired during childhood in parallel with acquisition of agglutinating antibodies to parasite-encoded variant surface antigens (VSA) expressed on parasitized red blood cells. In a semi-immune child in such an area, clinical disease is caused mainly by parasites expressing VSA not recognized by preexisting VSA-specif...

Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by a malaria-like parasite called Leishmania in human and some species of animals. Detection of leishmaniasis has always been crucial for control and treatment of the disease. Different strategies have been approached for detection of leishmania. In this review methods used for detection of leishmania infection have been discussed and compared.

Cerebral malaria is still a deleterious health problem in tropical countries. The wide spread of malarial drug resistance and the lack of an effective vaccine are obstacles for disease management and prevention. Parasite and human genetic factors play important roles in malaria susceptibility and disease severity. The malaria parasite exerted a potent selective signature on the human genome, wh...

The composition of the erythrocyte plasma membrane is extensively modified during the intracellular growth of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. It has been previously shown that an 80-kD phosphoprotein is associated with the plasma membrane of human red blood cells (RBCs) infected with trophozoite/schizont stage malaria parasites. However, the identity of this 80-kD phosphoprotein is ...

Protective immunity against preerythrocytic malaria parasite infection is difficult to achieve. Intracellular Plasmodium parasites likely minimize antigen presentation by surface-expressed major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) molecules on infected cells, yet they actively remodel their host cells by export of parasite factors. Whether exported liver-stage proteins constitute better ...

Malaria presents a diagnostic challenge to laboratories in most countries. Endemic malaria, population movements, and travelers all contribute to presenting the laboratory with diagnostic problems for which it may have little expertise available. Drug resistance and genetic variation has altered many accepted morphological appearances of malaria species, and new technology has given an opportun...

BACKGROUND Exposing healthy human volunteers to Plasmodium falciparum-infected mosquitoes is an accepted tool to evaluate preliminary efficacy of malaria vaccines. To accommodate the demand of the malaria vaccine pipeline, controlled infections are carried out in an increasing number of centers worldwide. We assessed their safety and reproducibility. METHODS We reviewed safety and parasitolog...

background: malaria is one of the most important parasitic diseases in tropical and temperate regions. the aim of this study was to determine the trend of malaria in mazandaran province, northern iran during 1997-2012. methods: this retrospective study was conducted from 1997 to 2012. the population's study was individuals who registered at health centers of mazandaran province. peripheral bloo...

Understanding the evolution of drug resistance in malaria is a central area of study at the intersection of evolution and medicine. Antimalarial drug resistance is a major threat to malaria control and directly related to trends in malaria attributable mortality. Artemisinin combination therapies (ACT) are now recommended worldwide as first line treatment for uncomplicated malaria, and losing t...

Control of parasite replication exerted by MHC class I restricted CD8+ T-cells in the liver is critical for vaccination-induced protection against malaria. While many intracellular pathogens subvert the MHC class I presentation machinery, its functionality in the course of malaria replication in hepatocytes has not been characterized. Using experimental systems based on specific identification,...