This work was supported by the UNICEF/UNDP/
Word Bank/WHO Special Program for Research and Training in
Tropical Diseases (TDR), the Brazilian National Research Council
(CNPq), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas
Gerais (FAPEMIG).Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou. Laboratório de Malária. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Instituto de Ciências Biológicas. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso. Hospital
Júlio Muller. Cuiabá, MT, Brazil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou. Laboratório de Malária. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Belém, PA, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou. Laboratório de Malária. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.University of Notre Dame. Department of Biological Sciences. Notre Dame, IN.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou. Laboratório de Malária. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil.Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Instituto de Ciências Biológicas. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.Plasmodium vivax Duffy binding protein (DBP) is functionally important in the erythrocyte invasion
process and provides a logical target for vaccine-mediated immunity. In the current study, we demonstrated that DBP
is naturally immunogenic in different populations of the Brazilian Amazon, and the proportions of DBP IgG positive
subjects increased with exposure to malaria, reaching a peak in those subjects with long-term exposure (> 15 years) in
the Amazon area. This profile of antibody response was significantly different from the one observed for the P. vivax
merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP119), which was relatively uniform in areas with markedly different levels of malaria
transmission. In a small sample of adults with symptomless P. vivax infection, we could not detect any significant
correlation between antibodies against these P. vivax proteins and asymptomatic infection. Our study provided an
additional insight by demonstrating cumulative exposure as a determinant that acts independently of host age in
generation of anti-DBP IgG response
