An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Plasmodium specific IgA has been detected in serum and breast milk among the endemic population but the role it can play in vivo is not clear. In this report, we demonstrate the utility of Malaria specific IgA, elicited by peptide sequences (referred as Mpep3 and Mpep4) of region VI of EBA-175 (PfrVI). Immunization of mice with KLH tagged or untagged peptides of Mpep3, Mpep4 or with PfrVI have resulted in specific IgA response that inhibits the in vitro invasion of Plasmodium falciparum merozoites. Mice having the IgA specific to Mpep4 have exhibited higher tolerance to Plasmodium berghei ANKA parasitemia, exhibited several fold lesser sequestration of infected RBC, lesser damage to microvasculature with no signs of perivascular haemorrhage and lesser lung inflammation in comparison to unimmunized mice. In addition, the immunized mice have B-cell population that secrete the IgA specific to PfrVI. These results suggest that the IgA specific to these malarial antigens can confer significant advantage to hosts and it may also reduce the severity of malaria infection.

Trace element status is known to be altered in the diabetic state. Current evidence suggests that reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI's) do participate in the destruction of pancreatic beta cells in STZ-induced Type 1 diabetes. The copper and zinc status of diabetic patients and their descendants was also found to have changed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential usefulness of copper sulfate in the treatment of STZ-induced type I diabetes. We used C57BL6 female mice, in whom copper sulfate treatment was started at 6 weeks of age followed by an IP injection of 40 mg/kg body weight of STZ for five consecutive days. Its effects were evaluated at 10 weeks of age. The treatment with copper sulfate significantly decreased blood glucose levels, levels of lipid peroxidation and mRNA expression of the enzyme iNOS and the cytokines IFN-gamma and IL-4. Histological analysis of the pancreas revealed that, three out of five animals in the copper sulfate treated groups showed absence of mononuclear cell infiltration and no change in the shape and size of islets as compared to pancreas of the STZ-induced diabetic group of animals. In conclusion, our observations indicate that copper sulfate treatment can exert beneficial effects in diabetes with preservation of beta-cell function in vivo. Copper sulfate could be exerting these beneficial effects either by acting directly by reducing free radicals or through reduction in glucose levels.