RESUMEN
In contrast to young rats, adult rats given i.p. Plasmodium berghei Anka (PbA) control the parasitaemia and repair their anaemia. Here, we investigated whether IgE and CD23/NO immune pathway could be implicated in this age-related resistance of adult rats to PbA. Eight-week-old rats displayed significantly higher levels of plasma total IgE (p=0.01) and soluble CD23 (p=0.003) during the peak of parasitaemia, compared to 4-week-old rats. IgE Fc-binding antibody or aminoguanidine administration to parasitized 8-week-old rats slightly delayed blood parasite clearance or exacerbated anaemia. These data suggest that IgE and CD23/NO could play an important role in the resistance of adult rats experiencing PbA primary intraerythrocytic development.