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C Rogier

Publications and source records attributed to C Rogier.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

In vitro activities of benflumetol against 158 Senegalese isolates of Plasmodium falciparum in comparison with those of standard antimalarial drugs.

The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50s) of benflumetol (range, 12.5 to 240 nM; mean, 55.1 nM) for 158 Senegalese isolates were evaluated. Ten isolates (6%) showed decreased susceptibility to benflumetol. Benflumetol was slightly more potent against chloroquine-resistant isolates (P < 0.025). No correlation or weak correlations in the responses to benflumetol and pyrimethamine, chloroquine, amodiaquine, artemether, quinine, and pyronaridine were observed, and these correlations are insufficient to suggest cross-resistance. Benflumetol may be an important alternative drug for the treatment of chloroquine-resistant malaria.

Animals↗

Quantitative computer image analysis of chondroitin sulfate A expression in placentas infected with Plasmodium falciparum.

Most pathological conditions resulting from infection with the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum occur as a consequence of the sequestration by several adhesion molecules of parasite-infected red blood cells (IRBCs). Recent reports have provided evidence that placental vascular endothelial ligands for IRBCs were mostly restricted to chondroitin sulfate A (CSA). The expression of CSA in malaria-infected placentas was investigated in a prospective case-control study in a hypoendemic area (Dakar, Senegal). The tissue distribution of CSA was measured in the terminal villi by immunostaining combined with image processing in 20 infected and 20 noninfected frozen sections of placenta. The villous surface immunostained by anti-CSA antibody was higher in infected than in noninfected placentas (p<0.03), in placentas with active infection than in those with past chronic infection (p<0.05), and in infected placentas with positive imprints than in those with negative imprints (not significant; p=0.06). Labeling was found in the extracellular matrix and in endothelial and stromal cells of all the placentas. Syncytiotrophoblast immunostaining was detected in all placentas associated with active or active chronic infection (n=7) but in only 4/13 placentas with past chronic infection (p<0.01). The presence of P. falciparum in the imprint was significantly correlated with immunostaining of CSA in syncytiotrophoblasts (p=0.003). These results suggest that CSA can play an important role in the sequestration of P. falciparum in human placentas during the acute phase of infection.

Animals↗

Plasmodium falciparum clinical malaria in Dielmo, a holoendemic area in Senegal: no influence of acquired immunity on initial symptomatology and severity of malaria attacks.

Six hundred eighty-nine Plasmodium falciparum malaria attacks were observed during a three-year period among 226 inhabitants of the village of Dielmo, Senegal, an area of high malaria transmission. Malaria attacks were defined as clinical episodes with fever (body temperature > or = 38.0 degrees C) or reporting of fever or headache or vomiting, associated with a parasite:leukocyte ratio above an age-dependent pyrogenic threshold identified in this population. The symptom frequencies were tested against age, gender, and parasite density using a random-effect logistic regression model and the study of distinguishable clinical presentations was carried out by multi-correspondence analysis. There was little difference between the severity of symptoms during the initial course of attacks in young children and adults, and this severity was not correlated with the duration of the pathologic episode. It was not possible to distinguish objectively different malaria attack types according to the severity of clinical manifestations. In contrast, the duration of fever, symptoms, and parasite clearance were significantly longer among the youngest children than among the oldest children and adults. These findings suggest that of the two components of protective immunity, anti-parasite immunity and anti-toxic immunity, only the first would play a major role as age increases. They suggest also that the initial clinical presentation of malaria attacks is not predictive of the level of protective immunity.

Adolescent↗

[In vitro sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Gabon to chloroquine and cycloguanil].

The in vitro susceptibility of 91 Plasmodium falciparum isolates obtained from malaria-infected children living near Libreville (Gabon) was evaluated against chloroquine and cycloguanil (biologically active metabolite of proguanil), using an isotopic micro-drug susceptibility test. In vitro resistance to chloroquine and cycloguanil was observed in 83% (35/42) and in 38% (30/78) of the patients, respectively. Our data showed that 41% (16/39) of Gabonese field isolates were resistant both to chloroquine and cycloguanil. These findings are of great importance because they might indicate imminent chloroquine-proguanil failure, and there are not many affordable antimalarial drugs to replace chloroquine-proguanil combination.

Adolescent↗

Plasmodium falciparum clinical malaria: lessons from longitudinal studies in Senegal.

Development of new antimalaria strategies and particularly vaccines, needs an in-depth understanding of the relationships between transmission, infection, immunity, morbidity and mortality. The intensive and longitudinal collection of entomological, parasitological and clinical data from the Senegalese populations of Dielmo (250-300 inhabitants), exposed to a perennial and intense transmission (about 200 infective bites/person/year) and of Ndiop (300-350 inhabitants) exposed to a seasonal transmission (about 20 infective bites/person/year), allows to respond to many questions about this subject. The acquisition of an antimalaria immunity as one gets older appears to reduce parasite density, complexity of infection, risk of new patent infection after a suppressive treatment but does not reduce the prevalence (as assessed by PCR) of infection which is commonly chronic and asymptomatic. The existence of a pyrogenic threshold effect of parasitaemia allows the individual diagnosis of malaria attacks. P. falciparum genotyping suggests that successive malaria attacks are due to distinct recently inoculated parasite populations that multiply initially without restriction, a dominant population is generally responsible of the clinical manifestations and all new populations do not trigger systematically attacks. The initial intensity of clinical manifestations does not differ perceptibly among children and adults, is not related to the duration of the attacks, does not allow the distinction between several types of attacks, is not predictive of their severity, and the clearance of parasites and manifestations is longer among youngest persons. The risk of malaria attacks is lower as one gets older and among carriers of AS haemoglobin, is higher when transmission increases and during pregnancy up to three months after delivery, and vary between children. The risk of malaria attack per infective bite is negatively related to the intensity of transmission. Because of their high sensitivity in malaria case detection, this type of small community-based studies are powerful and useful for the identification of protective immunological mechanisms as well as for testing rapidly and cheaply the clinical efficacy of any intervention such as antimalarial vaccines and drug therapy or prophylaxis. As a lot of vaccine candidates and drug combinations will be screened or tested in the perspective of the 'Roll-Back Malaria' programme, more attention must be given to longitudinal studies of this type.

Adult↗

[Comparative evaluation of the plasmodial infection of Anopheles using ELISA and dissection. Consequences for the estimation of the transmission of malaria in 1995 in Ndiop, Senegal].

An entomological study was carried out in Ndiop village, Senegal, an area of sudan-type savana, from January to December 1995, to compare the malaria inoculation rate measured by the dissection of salivary glands of anophelines and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Mosquitoes were sampled by night-bite collections. Species from the Anopheles gambiae complex were identified using the polymerase chain reaction. 1292 females Culicidae were collected. 597 anophelines mosquitoes known to be malaria vectors were captured during 148 man-nights of capture. Of the 572 anophelines investigated, 14 were positive using dissection while 21 were found to be positive with ELISA. The sporozoite rates were 2.5%, 2.2% and 3.8% for An. arabiensis, An. gambiae and An. funestus, respectively. The circumsporozoite rates were 3.5%, 2.2% and 7.7% for these three species, respectively. ELISA detected 1.5 times more positive mosquitoes than dissection. These results are discussed with reference to the duration of the sporogonic cycle, the delay before CSP antigens are apparent, and the daily survival rate of Anopheles mosquitoes.

Animals↗

In vitro activity of artemether against African isolates (Senegal) of Plasmodium falciparum in comparison with standard antimalarial drugs.

The in vitro activity of artemether against 56 African isolates of Plasmodium falciparum from Senegal was evaluated using an isotope-based drug susceptibility semi-microtest. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values for artemether were in a narrow range from 0.8 to 15.2 nM (mean IC50 = 3.43 nM) and the 95% confidence interval (CI) was 2.50-4.36 nM. Artemether was equally effective on chloroquine-sensitive and chloroquine-resistant isolates (mean IC50 = 346 nM, 95% CI = 2.08-4.84 nM versus mean IC50 = 2.80 nM, 95% CI = 2.00-3.60 nM). There was a significant positive correlation between responses to artemether and mefloquine (r2 = 0.36, P < 0.001), artemether and quinine (r2 = 0.085, P < 0.05), artemether and halofantrine (r2 = 0.075, P < 0.05), quinine and mefloquine (r2 = 0.205, P < 0.01), quinine and halofantrine (r2 = 0.124, P < 0.05), and mefloquine and halofantrine (r2 = 0.801, P < 0.001). A positive correlation between these drugs suggests in vitro cross-resistance or at least in vitro cross-susceptibility.

Animals↗

No influence of age on infection complexity and allelic distribution in Plasmodium falciparum infections in Ndiop, a Senegalese village with seasonal, mesoendemic malaria.

We have shown previously that in Dielmo, a Senegalese village with intense perennial Plasmodium falciparum transmission, the infection complexity and the distribution of some allelic types harbored by asymptomatic carriers was age-dependent. We report here an investigation of these parameters in Ndiop, a village located 5 km from Dielmo, where malaria is mesoendemic and seasonal, and where immunity is acquired at a very low rate, as indicated by the lifelong distribution of P. falciparum clinical attacks. Blood was collected from 143 and 125 inhabitants, including 122 individuals sampled in both surveys, during two cross-sectional surveys at one-month intervals during the 1994 transmission season. Plasmodium falciparum parasites were genotyped for three polymorphic single copy genes. Genetic diversity was very large, with 17, 43, and nine distinct alleles detected for the merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1), MSP-2, and glutamate-rich protein loci, respectively. These figures, similar to those previously observed in Dielmo, indicate that the parasite genetic diversity is not directly related to the inoculation rate, at least in the range of transmission intensity studied here. The complexity of the asymptomatic infections (average number of distinct genotypes per isolate) was more than two-fold lower in Ndiop than in Dielmo and importantly, did not decrease with age. Likewise, the allele distribution was not influenced by age, contrasting with the observations made in Dielmo. This indicates that the number of parasite types per isolate and the influence of age on complexity and allele distribution depend on the level of endemicity, consistent with the interpretation that they reflect acquired anti-parasite immunity.

Adolescent↗

Prognostic value of anti-Plasmodium falciparum-specific immunoglobulin G3, cytokines, and their soluble receptors in West African patients with severe malaria.

Forty-one African patients suffering from clinically defined severe malaria were studied in the intensive medical care unit of the main hospital in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa. All of these individuals lived in Greater Dakar, an area of low and seasonal Plasmodium falciparum endemicity. Twenty-seven patients (mean age +/- 1 standard deviation, 19.2 +/- 12.7 years) survived this life-threatening episode, but 14 (30.8 +/- 16.2 years old) died despite initiation of adequate treatment. On the day of admission (day 0) and 3 days later, one to two blood samples (i.e., approximately 10 to 15 ml) were obtained from each subject, and different biological parameters were evaluated in the two groups. Plasma samples were tested for their content in tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), soluble receptors I and II for TNF-alpha (TNF-alpha sRI and TNF-alpha sRII), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-6 sR, IL-10, and IL-2 sR. The concentrations of all these cytokines and/or their receptors was significantly elevated in patient plasma samples on day 0, and it rapidly decreased in the group of individuals who survived. By comparison, the mean concentration of the same parameters decreased slowly in the group of patients who died (except for IL-10, which dramatically fell in all patient plasma samples soon after initiation of antimalarial treatment). The TNF-alpha sRI level remained significantly elevated among the patients who died, and the highest levels of soluble TNF-alpha sRI receptor were found among the older patients. Parasite-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM), total IgG, IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, and IgG4 were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a crude extract of a local P. falciparum isolate as antigen and human class- and subclass-specific monoclonal antibodies. Parasite-specific IgM, total IgG, and IgG1 were detectable in the plasma samples of most of these African patients, whereas IgG2 and IgG4 mean values were low. The mean level of parasite-specific IgG3 was different (P = 0.024) at day 0, i.e., before initiation of intensive medical care, between the group of the 27 surviving subjects and the group of 14 patients dying of severe malaria. As a consequence, most of the African patients who died had only trace amounts or almost no detectable level of parasite-specific IgG3 at the time of admission. In contrast, the presence of even limited IgG3 activity at day 0 was found to be associated with a significantly increased probability of recovering from severe malaria. Therefore, in our study, both an elevated level of TNF-alpha sRI and absence of IgG3 activity were of bleak prognostic significance, whereas a favorable outcome was usually observed when parasite-specific IgG3 activity was detectable. This finding was strongly suggestive of a prime role for these parasite-specific immunoglobulins in the capacity to help recovery from severe malaria.

Adolescent↗

High annual and seasonal variations in malaria transmission by anophelines and vector species composition in Dielmo, a holoendemic area in Senegal.

We conducted a three-year entomologic study in Dielmo, a village of 250 inhabitants in a holoendemic area for malaria in Senegal. Anophelines were captured on human bait and by pyrethrum spray collections. The mosquitoes belonging to the Anopheles gambiae complex were identified using the polymerase chain reaction. Malaria vectors captured were An. funestus, An. arabiensis, and An. gambiae. Anopheles funestus was the most abundant mosquito captured the first year, An. arabiensis in the following years. The annual entomologic inoculation rates calculated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were 238, 89, and 150 for the first, second, and third years, respectively. Each year there was a peak of transmission at the end of the rainy season, but transmission occurred year round. The heterogeneity of transmission was found at four different levels: 1) the relative vector proportion according to the place and method of capture, 2) the human biting rate and relative proportion of vectors by month and year, 3) the infection rate of each vector by year, and 4) the number of infected bites for all vectors, and for each species, for the year. Our data show that even in areas of intense and perennial transmission, there exist large longitudinal variations and strong heterogeneity in entomologic parameters of malaria transmission. It is important to take these into account for the study of the variations in clinical and biological parameters of human malaria, and to evaluate this relationship, a very thorough investigation of transmission is necessary.

Animals↗

Imbalanced distribution of Plasmodium falciparum MSP-1 genotypes related to sickle-cell trait.

BACKGROUND: The sickle-cell trait protects against severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria and reduces susceptibility to mild malaria but does not prevent infection. The exact mechanism of this protection remains unclear. We have hypothesized that AS individuals are protected by virtue of being less susceptible to a subset of parasite strains; thus we compared some genetic characteristics of parasites infecting AS and AA subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood was collected from asymptomatic individuals living in two different regions of Africa. The polymorphic MSP-1 and MSP-2 loci were genotyped using a PCR-based methodology. Individual alleles were identified by size polymorphism, amplification using family-specific primers, and hybridization using family-specific probes. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze allele distribution. RESULTS: In Senegalese carriers, age and hemoglobin type influenced differently the distribution of the three MSP-1 families and had an impact on distinct individual alleles, whereas the distribution of MSP-2 alleles was marginally affected. There was no influence of other genetic traits, including the HLA Bw53 genotype, or factors such as place of residence within the village. In a cohort of Gabonese schoolchildren in which the influence of age was abrogated, a similar imbalance in the MSP-1 allelic distribution but not of MSP-2 allelic distribution by hemoglobin type was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The influence of the host's hemoglobin type on P. falciparum genotypes suggests that parasite fitness for a specific host is strain-dependent, which is consistent with our hypothesis that innate resistance might result from reduced fitness of some parasite strains for individuals with sickle-cell traits.

Adolescent↗

[Severe malaria in children from the seasonal low-transmission zone of Senegal: effect of age on the clinical manifestations].

The influence of age on the clinical presentation of severe malaria and especially on its two most commonly encountered manifestations, cerebral malaria and severe anaemia, has been retrospectively examined in 161 children (< 16 years old) admitted in the paediatric department of Hospital Principal de Dakar from January 1st 1990 to February, 29th 1996. They lived in Dakar and its suburbs, a region of Senegal were the malaria transmission rate is very low. Cases were defined by at least one of the World Health Organization criteria of severe malaria and the presence of Plasmodium falciparum in blood smears. Severe anaemia was present in 73.1%, 52.1% and 26.2% cases of severe malaria among children aged 0-3 years, 4-7 years and 8-15 years, respectively, (p < 0.0001). The frequency of cerebral malaria was 11.3%, 28.2% and 60.6% in the same age groups, respectively, (p < 0.0001). Severe anaemia and cerebral malaria were associated in 8.7% of the cases of severe malaria. The fatality rate was significantly lower in cases of severe anaemia without cerebral malaria (3%) than in cases of cerebral malaria without severe anaemia (17.5%; p < 0.02). Among young children, severe anaemia was associated with brief hyperparasitaemia or with prolonged lower parasitaemia. Other things being equal, older patients had a lower risk of severe anaemia. The results suggest that the high prevalence of severe anaemia in young children, even in an area of very low endemicity, depends more on age and parasitaemia than on the transmission level.

Adolescent↗

Modulation of K+ conductances by Ca2+ and human chorionic gonadotrophin in Leydig cells from mature rat testis.

1. Although the control of steroidogenic activity of the Leydig cell by the peptides luteinizing hormone (LH) and human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is clearly mediated by cAMP, the extent to which Ca2+ controls the Leydig cell function is less well defined. In the present study, the whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique was used to investigate the modulation of potassium conductances by calcium and hCG, in the Leydig cells from mature rat testis. 2. In symmetrical glutamate solutions, depolarizations elicited outwardly rectifying currents, which were mainly carried by potassium and were blocked by tetraethylammonium and 4-aminopyridine. For values of [Ca2+]i below 10(-8) M, transient currents of low amplitudes, insensitive to charybdotoxin (CTX) and iberiotoxin (IBTX), were activated above -40 mV. For [Ca2+]i values of 10(-7) M and above, noisy currents with slow activation kinetics were activated above 0 mV. These currents were sustained and were sensitive to CTX and IBTX. 3. Both current types were modulated by intracellular calcium. Ionomycin and a [Ca2+]i elevation in the range from 10(-9) to 10(-7) M, both inhibited the CTX-insensitive currents, whereas a rise in the calcium concentration above 10(-7) M increased the amplitude and shifted the threshold of activation of the CTX-sensitive currents to less positive levels. 4. hCG (1-50 i.u. ml-1), in conditions where the chloride currents were strongly inhibited by 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulphonic acid (SITS), induced a partial inhibition of the CTX-insensitive currents but was unable to increase the CTX-sensitive currents. 5. No voltage-sensitive calcium current was recorded in control or hCG-stimulated cells. 6. The results indicate that hCG inhibits one kind of Ca(2+)-modulated channel, perhaps as a result of a moderate [Ca2+]i rise, but is unable to increase the intracellular Ca2+ concentration to the range in which large conductance Ca(2+)-dependent channels are activated.

Animals↗

Combating malaria morbidity and mortality by reducing transmission.

Jean-François Trape and Christophe Rogier present epidemiological data and an analysis of the relationship between transmission, morbidity and mortality from malaria which suggest that any intervention aiming to reduce transmission will not, on a long-term basis, reduce the burden of malaria in the majority of epidemiological contexts observed in tropical Africa.

Journal Article↗

HLA-A, -B, -C, -DR, -DQ typing in a population group of Senegal: distribution of HLA antigens and HLA-DRB1*13 and DRB1*11 subtyping by PCR using sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP).

One-hundred-and sixteen Senegalese Serere were typed for HLA antigens and compared with other ethnic groups in Gambia. We did not find significant differences (Fisher's exact test; P < 0.01) in the HLA antigens distribution between the Serere and Mandinka groups in Senegal and the Serere, Mandinka and Wolof in The Gambia. The most common HLA haplotypes found (P < 0.01; Chi square with Yates' correction) were: A1, B8; A2, B51; A32, B44; A33, B58; A2, Cw2; A2, Cw4; A33, Cw3; A2, DR17; A10, DR10; B35, Cw4; B53, Cw6; B57, Cw3; B65, Cw8; B50, DR15; B52, DR4; Cw2, DR17; DR7, DQ2; DR18, DQ4. The HLA-DRB1*13 and DRB1*11 alleles were subtyped by PCR-SSP and the frequencies of these alleles in the studied population given. HLA-DRB1*1304 and DRB1102 were the most common alleles found respectively 15.0 and 18.5%.

DNA Primers↗