Malaria and pregnancy: placental cytokine expression and its relationship to intrauterine growth retardation.
Malaria infections during pregnancy can lead to the delivery of low-birth-weight infants. In this study, cytokine mRNA was measured in placentas from 23 malaria-infected and 21 uninfected primigravid women who had delivered in Mangochi, Malawi, a region with a high rate of transmission of falciparum malaria. Significantly increased expression of interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and decreased expression of IL-6 and transforming growth factor-beta1 were found in malaria-infected compared with uninfected placentas. TNF-alpha and IL-8 were produced by maternally derived hemozoin-laden placental macrophages. Increased TNF-alpha expression was associated with increased placental hemozoin concentrations. Increased TNF-alpha or IL-8 expression in the placenta was associated with intrauterine growth retardation but not with preterm delivery. The results suggest that malaria infections induce a potentially harmful proinflammatory response in the placenta.
Moormann
A M
AM
Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Sullivan
A D
AD
Rochford
R A
RA
Chensue
S W
SW
Bock
P J
PJ
Nyirenda
T
T
Meshnick
S R
SR
D016207:Cytokines / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000209:etiology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006420:Hemeproteins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature; D010920:Placenta / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D016207:Cytokines; D006420:Hemeproteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral; C020753:hemozoin