Changes in the superoxide anion generating capacity and respiratory burst enzymes of peripheral blood monocytes of monkeys during acute Plasmodium knowlesi infection

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The superoxide anion generation profile of peripheral blood monocytes of rhesus monekys was investigated during the different stages of an acute Plasmodium knowlesi infection. An initial increase in superoxide anion was followed by a significant decline (P < 0.001), paralleled by a drop in NADPH oxidase activity; there was no alteration in the activity of the hexose monophosphate shunt enzymes. This lowered activity of the NADPH oxidase, with the resulting decreased .ovrhdot.O2- generation, might be responsible for the failure of the animals to control the parasitaemia; as a result they succumbed to the infection.