How does malaria in pregnancy impact malaria risk in infants?

Malaria in pregnancy not only exerts profound negative consequences on the health of the mother and developing fetus, but may also alter the risk of malaria during infancy. Although mechanisms driving this altered risk remain unclear, in utero exposure to malaria antigens may impact the development...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC medicine 2018-11, Vol.16 (1), p.212-212, Article 212
Main Author: Jagannathan, Prasanna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antigens
Babies
Blood
Burkina Faso
Chemokines
Cord blood
Cytokines
Female
Fetuses
Growth factors
Health risks
Humans
Immune response
Immunity
Immunity, Innate
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Infants
Infections
Innate immunity
Intrauterine exposure
Malaria
malaria in pregnancy
Mothers
Parasites
Parturition
Placenta
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic
Prenatal experience
Risk
TLR stimulation
TLR7 protein
Toll-like receptors
Vaccines
Vector-borne diseases
Womens health
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Summary:Malaria in pregnancy not only exerts profound negative consequences on the health of the mother and developing fetus, but may also alter the risk of malaria during infancy. Although mechanisms driving this altered risk remain unclear, in utero exposure to malaria antigens may impact the development of fetal and infant innate immunity. In an article in BMC Medicine, Natama et al. describe an ambitious analysis of basal and TLR-stimulated cord blood responses among a birth cohort in Burkina Faso. Basal levels of several cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors were shown to be significantly lower in cord blood with histopathologic evidence of placental malaria. Additionally, following TLR7/8 stimulation, samples obtained from infants of mothers with placental malaria were hyper-responsive compared to those without evidence of prenatal malaria exposure. Furthermore, several responses impacted by placental malaria were associated with differential malaria risk in infancy. Understanding how malaria in pregnancy shapes immune responses in infants will provide critical insight into the rational design of malaria control strategies during pregnancy, including intermittent preventative treatment in pregnancy and vaccines.Please see related article: https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-018-1187-3.
ISSN:1741-7015
1741-7015
DOI:10.1186/s12916-018-1210-8