AUTHOR=Totino Paulo Renato , Lopes Stefanie Costa 

TITLE=Insights into the Cytoadherence Phenomenon of Plasmodium vivax: The Putative Role of Phosphatidylserine

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2017.01148

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2017.01148

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Plasmodium vivax</italic> is the most geographically widespread and the dominant human malaria parasite in most countries outside of sub-Saharan Africa and, although it was classically recognized to cause benign infection, severe cases and deaths caused by <italic>P. vivax</italic> have remarkably been reported. In contrast to <italic>Plasmodium falciparum</italic>, which well-known ability to bind to endothelium and placental tissue and form rosettes is related to severity of the disease, it has been a dogma that <italic>P. vivax</italic> is unable to undergo cytoadherent phenomena. However, some studies have demonstrated that red blood cells (RBCs) infected by <italic>P. vivax</italic> can cytoadhere to host cells, while the molecules participating in this host–parasite interaction are still a matter of speculation. In the present overview, we address the evidences currently supporting the adhesive profile of <italic>P. vivax</italic> and, additionally, discuss the putative role of phosphatidylserine—a cell membrane phospholipid with cytoadhesive properties that has been detected on the surface of <italic>Plasmodium</italic>-parasitized RBCs.</p>