Imbalanced Distribution of Plasmodium falciparum EBA-175 Genotypes Related to Clinical Status in Children from Bakoumba, Gabon

The erythrocyte binding antigen 175 kDa (EBA-175) of Plasmodium falciparum is one of the major ligands for red blood cell invasion by merozoites. EBA-175 is a dimorphic antigen but the role that dimorphism plays in host parasite interaction is not fully understood. In this study, we sought to determine the distribution of EBA-175 genotypes and its pathogenetic influence. The nested polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the genotypes of P. falciparum isolates from asymptomatic and symptomatic Gabonese children. CAMP strains (C-segment) and FCR-3 strains (F-segment) were found in 13/50 (26%) and 19/50 (38%) symptomatic children, respectively and in 16/66 (24%) and 46/66 (70%) asymptomatic children, respectively. The prevalence of mixed C-/F- infection was 18/50 (36%) and 4/66 (6%) in symptomatic and asymptomatic children, respectively. These results show that mixed C-/F- infection is associated with clinical malaria (chi2, P