Reprogramming T cells for disease tolerance in falciparum malaria
Research type
Research Study
Full title
BIO-004: Reprogramming T cells for disease tolerance in falciparum malaria
IRAS ID
330788
Contact name
Angela Minassian
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Research Governance, Ethics and Assurance Team
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Malaria is an infectious disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite and is a major public health problem in many parts of the world.There are five species that are known to cause malaria in humans. Of these five species, Plasmodium falciparum causes the most morbidity and mortality globally, with an estimated 241 million cases of malaria and 619,000 deaths worldwide in 2021.
A significant study conducted in Tanzania showed that while the number of malaria parasites in the blood remained constant over the first few malaria infections of life, the risk of severe disease and hospitalisation decreased significantly with each infection. This study concluded that rather than killing the malaria parasite, the immune system developed the ability to “tolerate” the presence of the parasite in the body. The way that the immune system tolerates the malaria parasite remains unknown.
In order to better understand how the immune system adapts to tolerate the malaria parasite after repeated infections, we are recruiting participants to undergo three malaria challenges, receive the yellow fever vaccine and undergo a bone marrow biopsy.
This study will assess:
1) changes in the immune (T-cell) response after three infections with P. falciparum malaria (G1 only)
2) changes in the immune (T-cell) response after two infections with P. falciparum malaria followed by one infection with a different species of malaria, P. vivax (G2 only)
3) changes in the bone marrow following the first malaria infection (2) compared to the third malaria infection (G1) (we will do this by taking a sample of bone marrow through a procedure called a “bone marrow test”)
4) whether the immune (T-cell) response to vaccination is changed by repeated malaria infection – we will use the licenced yellow fever vaccine, Stamaril, to answer this question as this vaccine is known to stimulate a T-cell response.REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/SC/0364
Date of REC Opinion
20 Nov 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion