Mouse models have demonstrated utility in delineating the mechanisms underlying many aspects of malaria immunology and physiology. The most common mouse models of malaria employ the rodent-specific parasite species Plasmodium berghei, P. yoelii, and P. chabaudi, which elicit distinct pathologies and immune responses and are used to model different manifestations of human disease. In vitro culture methods are not well developed for rodent Plasmodium parasites, which thus require in vivo maintenance. Moreover, physiologically relevant immunological processes are best studied in vivo. Here, we detail the processes of infecting mice with Plasmodium, maintaining the parasite in vivo, and monitoring parasite levels and health parameters throughout infection.
In humans, immunity to Plasmodium sp. generally takes the form of protection from symptomatic malaria (i.e., 'clinical immunity') rather than infection ('sterilizing immunity'). In contrast, mice infected with Plasmodium develop sterilizing immunity, hindering progress in understanding the mechanistic basis of clinical immunity. Here we present a novel model in which mice persistently infected with P. chabaudi exhibit limited clinical symptoms despite sustaining patent parasite burdens for many months. Characterization of immune responses in persistently infected mice revealed development of CD4+ T cell exhaustion, increased production of IL-10, and expansion of B cells with an atypical surface phenotype. Additionally, persistently infected mice displayed a dramatic increase in circulating nonclassical monocytes, a phenomenon that we also observed in humans with both chronic Plasmodium exposure and asymptomatic infection. Following pharmacological clearance of infection, previously persistently infected mice could not control a secondary challenge, indicating that persistent infection disrupts the sterilizing immunity that typically develops in mouse models of acute infection. This study establishes an animal model of asymptomatic, persistent Plasmodium infection that recapitulates several central aspects of the immune response in chronically exposed humans. As such, it provides a novel tool for dissection of immune responses that may prevent development of sterilizing immunity and limit pathology during infection.
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