Our results demonstrated that PvRipr is naturally immunogenic, as more than 60% of the individuals presented IgM or IgG antibodies against recombinant PvRipr. The profile of IgG subclasses was also investigated and higher frequencies of seropositive individuals for IgG1 and IgG2 were observed. After in silico prediction, a total of four linear B cell epitopes were identified in PvRipr, from these sequences, B-PvRipr(879-888) and B-PvRipr(923-958) had higher frequencies of seropositive individuals and reactivity indexes in comparison to the other tested epitopes. Moreover, levels of IgG antibodies specific for these two epitopes were strongly correlated with the levels of IgG antibodies against recombinant PvRipr and especially with IgG3 antibodies, a cytophilic subclass widely cited in the protective immune response against malaria.
Soares et al. (Wed,) studied this question.