title: Placental haemozoin and malaria in pregnancy.
abstract: Malaria infections in pregnant women cause poor birth outcomes. Malaria pigment (haemozoin) accumulates in the placenta within macrophages and extracellularly, but its pathological significance is not understood. In order to study the potential role of haemozoin in malaria pathogenesis, we enrolled primigravid women at a Malawian government antenatal clinic and followed them through delivery. One hundred and thirteen women (71 per cent) out of 159 women followed through delivery were parasitaemic at least once. Mean placental haemozoin concentrations were significantly higher in women with delivery parasitaemias (223 ng/mg protein) than in women who never had a detectable parasitaemia (43 ng/mg protein; P<0.05), but were not significantly higher in women who were parasitaemic only during the antenatal period (67 ng/mg protein). Haemozoin was not associated with preterm delivery (PTD) or intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) (P -values, 0.307-0.787). Thus, placental haemozoin is associated with malaria infection at the time of delivery and does not seem to be associated with poor birth outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2029, USA.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nyirenda
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cullinan
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Meshnick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000209:etiology; D006420:Hemeproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000469:parasitology; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000209:etiology; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000378:metabolism; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000378:metabolism*; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000469:parasitology; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000469:parasitology; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome
chemical_list: D006420:Hemeproteins; D010860:Pigments, Biological; C020753:hemozoin