Program predicts immune response and parasite synchronization in malaria.

2003 MAY 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A computer program has been developed that can predict the immune response and parasite synchronization in malaria.

"Anti-malaria vaccines and drugs could be greatly improved if we knew which phases of Plasmodium falciparum development in red blood cells are major inducers and which are major targets of natural immune responses. This information should focus attention on relevant immunogens and prove useful in developing immune-based therapies. Here we explore the hypothesis that innate immune responses mediate synchronization between the replication cycles of parasites in different red blood cells which is reflected in periodic fevers," scientists in the United States report.

"Based on a recently developed, rather general mathematical model, we find that periodicity is highly sensitive to the position of both the inducing phase interval and the target phase interval in the parasite replication cycle," stated Igor M. Rouzine at Tufts University and F. Ellis McKenzie at Harvard University. "In addition, the degree of variability in the length of the replication cycle also strongly affects periodicity. To produce synchronization, the inducing and the target phase intervals must be developmentally ...