Oral Presentation 8th International Conference on Plasmodium vivax Research 2022

Total parasite biomass but not peripheral parasitaemia is associated with host perturbations in Plasmodium vivax patients: the role of the hematopoietic parasite reservoir in Plasmodium vivax infection and pathology (80315)

Joao Luiz Silva-Filho 1 , João CK Dos-Santos 2 , Marcelo Brito 3 , Carla Judice 2 , Helder Nakaya 4 5 , Erich De Paula 6 , Stefanie Lopes 3 7 , Kevin Couper 8 , Thomas Otto 1 , Gisely Melo 3 , Wuelton Monteiro 3 7 , Marcus Lacerda 3 7 , Fabio Costa 2 , Matthias Marti 1
  1. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, SCOTLAND, United Kingdom
  2. Department of Genetics, Evolution, Microbiology and Immunology, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
  3. Tropical Medicine Foundation Dr. Heitor Vieira Dourado, Manaus, Brazil
  4. Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  5. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  6. Department of Clinical Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
  7. Institute Leônidas & Maria Deane, Fiocruz, Manaus, Brazil
  8. University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

Plasmodium vivax is the major cause of human malaria in the Americas. How P. vivax infection can lead to poor clinical outcomes, despite low peripheral parasitaemia, remains a matter of intense debate. Estimation of total P. vivax biomass based on circulating markers indicates existence of a predominant parasite population outside of circulation. We investigated associations between peripheral and total parasite biomass and host response in vivax malaria. We analysed parasite and host signatures in a cohort of uncomplicated vivax malaria patients from Manaus, Brazil, combining clinical and parasite parameters, multiplexed analysis of host responses, and ex vivo assays. Patterns of clinical features, parasite burden, and host signatures measured in plasma across the patient cohort were highly heterogenous. Data deconvolution revealed two patient clusters, here termed Vivax low and Vivaxhigh. These patient subgroups were defined based on differences in total parasite biomass but not peripheral parasitaemia. Vivaxlow  patients clustered with healthy donors and Vivax high patients showed more profound alterations in haematological parameters, endothelial cell (EC) activation, and glycocalyx breakdown and levels of cytokines regulating different haematopoiesis pathways compared to Vivaxlow . Vivax high patients presented more severe thrombocytopenia and lymphopenia, along with enrichment of neutrophils in the peripheral blood and increased neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLCR). When patients’ signatures were combined, high association of total parasite biomass with a subset of markers of EC activation, thrombocytopenia, and lymphopenia severity was observed. Finally, machine learning models defined a combination of host parameters measured in the circulation that could predict the extent of parasite infection outside of circulation. Altogether, our data show that total parasite biomass is a better predictor of perturbations in host homeostasis in P. vivax patients than peripheralparasitaemia. This supports the emerging paradigm of a P. vivax tissue reservoir, particularly in the haematopoietic niche of bone marrow and spleen.