抗原变异是病原体通过周期性改变暴露于其表面分子的抗原特征获得选择优势,以逃避被宿主免疫系统消灭。在疟原虫,Brown等(1965)用诺氏疟原虫在恒河猴体内的实验中首先描述抗原变异。到目前为止人体疟原虫中,只有恶性疟原虫(Pf)可以抗原变异。疟原虫抗原变异的独特点是存在于宿主细胞表膜上,而不在疟原虫本身。 Antigen variation is the pathogen’s selection advantage by periodically altering antigenic characteristics of molecules exposed to its surface in order to evade elimination by the host’s immune system. In Plasmodium, Brown et al. (1965) first described antigenic variation in experiments in macaques using Plasmodium knowlesi. To date, only Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) can mutate antigens in human Plasmodium. The unique feature of Plasmodium antigen variants is that they are present on the host cell membrane, not in the Plasmodium itself.