Changes of dendritic cells and its subsets in peripheral blood of patients with vivax malaria

Objective: To analyze the changes of dendritic cells (DC) and its subsets in peripheral blood of patients with vivax malaria, and explore its immune mechanism. Methods: Eighteen patients with vivax malaria (malaria group) and 36 healthy adults (control group) were selected. The proportions of plasmacytoid DC(pDC) and myeloid DC(mDC) in peripheral blood were detected by flow cytometry four-colour fluorimetric analysis technique. Results: pDC subset in malaria group was significantly lower than that in control group(P ＜ 0. 01) . mDC/pDC in malaria group was significantly higher than that in control group(P ＜ 0. 01) , and there was no difference in the proportion of mDC between the two groups(P ＞ 0. 05) . Conclusions: There presents a general immunosuppression during plasmodium vivax infections. Plasmodium vivax parasites interact with DC,which involves inducing and adjusting Th1 immune response by altering mDC/pDC ratio.