16 research outputs found
View Point- How reliable are models for malaria vaccine development? Lessons from irradiated sporozoite immunizations
Models occupy a key position in the development of anti-parasitic
vaccines, yet thier relevance has been seldom addressed. It is
customary to admit that malaria vaccine development requires
easy-to-handle, laboratory models. Animal models involving
predominantly inbred rodents and primates as parasite hosts are
currently the basic tools for the study of host-parasite interactions.
Literature however indicated that the induction of host protection is
more difficult in natural host-parasite pairs than in experimental
models of parasite infection. Moreover different models delineate a
wide range of host-pathogen relationship profiles providing a mosaic of
contradictory informations, yet there is little incentive to delineate
thier relevance or to exploit recent advances to develop inmproved
model systems. In this context the analysis of natural host-parasite
interactions between Plasmodium berghei and its mammalian host and
reservoir, the tree rat Grammomys surdaster could be of relevance in
the study of host-parasite interactions