抄録
A pilot sero-epidemiological study was performed in Palawan, The Philippines, in a community within which annual malarial transmission takes place. Sera obtained from splenomegalic and asymptomatic children with current falciparum infection (Group I) were examined using a Western blotting technique to determine the reactivity to electrophoresed antigenic molecules of Plasmodium falciparum (P.f.) . Group I sera consistently exhibited specific reactivity of IgG to a 23kD molecule, to which sera obtained from another group of asymptomatic children with neither parasitemia nor splenomegaly (Group II) exhibited no distinct reactivity. A 58kD molecule was also exhibited by the Group I sera, while several Group II sera reacted with a 52 kD molecule in association with the 47kD which was reported to be indicative of present and/or recent past clinical episode of falciparum infection. Determination of the immunological features of the antigenic molecules of parasites by this type of sero-epidemiological study will provide a new assay system for evaluation of immune status in communities endemic for malaria.
