Rheumatoid factor-like IgM in Plasmodium berghei (Apicomplexa: Haemosporida) infections of BALB/c mice

Groups of female BALB/c mice infected by intravenous injection with 50 erythrocytes containing Plasmodium berghei Vincke et Lips, 1948 were sacrificed on days 3 through 12 after infection. Rheumatoid factor-like IgM (RF-IgM) and parasite-specific IgG levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in serum specimens and in culture medium removed from spleen cell cultures established at sacrifice. All four mouse IgG subisotypes were recognized by RF-IgM molecules induced by Plasmodium berghei infection, and in this regard, the parasite-induced RF-IgM response resembled that induced by lipopolysaccharide polyclonal activation. Plasmodium berghei infection resulted in a biphasic RF-IgM response, with infected animals demonstrating significantly increased levels of RF-IgM early in the infection and significantly decreased levels late in the infection, compared to uninfected control mice. The decreased levels of RF-IgM observed late in infection correlated with increasing parasitaemia levels, and were primarily due to a decrease in RF-IgM specific for mouse IgG2a. Late infection levels of RF-IgM specific for IgGI, IgG2b, and IgG3 were not significantly different from those of control animals.