Contribution of Functional Antimalarial Immunity to Measures of Parasite Clearance in Therapeutic Efficacy Studies of Artemisinin Derivatives

Abstract

The prevalence of IgG3, complement-fixing antibodies, and merozoite phagocytosis vary according to transmission intensity, are associated with faster parasite clearance, and may be sensitive surrogates of an augmented clearance capacity of infected erythrocytes. Determining the functional immune mechanisms associated with parasite clearance will improve characterization of artemisinin resistance.