Placental Infection With Plasmodium vivax: A Histopathological and Molecular Study
Open Access
- 10 October 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in The Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Vol. 206 (12), 1904-1910
- https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jis614
Abstract
Background. Evidence of the presence of Plasmodium vivax in the placenta is scarce and inconclusive. This information is relevant to understanding whether P. vivax affects placental function and how it may contribute to poor pregnancy outcomes. Methods. Histopathologic examination of placental biopsies from 80 Papua New Guinean pregnant women was combined with quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to confirm P. vivax infection and rule out coinfection with other Plasmodium species in placental and peripheral blood. Leukocytes and monocytes/macrophages were detected in placental sections by immunohistochemistry. Results. Monoinfection by P. vivax and Plasmodium falciparum was detected by qPCR in 8 and 10 placentas, respectively. Seven of the 8 women with P. vivax placental monoinfection were negative in peripheral blood. By histology, 3 placentas with P. vivax monoinfection showed parasitized erythrocytes in the intervillous space but no hemozoin in macrophages nor increased intervillous inflammatory cells. In contrast, 7 placentas positive for P. falciparum presented parasites and hemozoin in macrophages or fibrin as well as intervillous inflammatory infiltrates. Conclusions. Plasmodium vivax can be associated with placental infection. However, placental inflammation is not observed in P. vivax monoinfections, suggesting other causes of poor delivery outcomes associated with P. vivax infection.Keywords
Funding Information
- European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (n° 201588)
- Malaria in Pregnancy Consortium
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CP-04/00220)
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (RYC-2008-02631)
- NIH
This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:
- Plasmodium vivax Adherence to Placental GlycosaminoglycansPLOS ONE, 2012
- Gestational malaria associated to Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum placental mixed-infection followed by foetal loss: a case report from an unstable transmission area in BrazilMalaria Journal, 2011
- Chloroquine resistant vivax malaria in a pregnant woman on the western border of ThailandMalaria Journal, 2011
- Comparison of diagnostic methods for the detection and quantification of the four sympatric Plasmodium species in field samples from Papua New GuineaMalaria Journal, 2010
- Placental Histopathologic Changes Associated with Subclinical Malaria Infection and Its Impact on the Fetal EnvironmentThe American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2010
- Burden of malaria in pregnancy in Jharkhand State, IndiaMalaria Journal, 2009
- The pathophysiology of vivax malariaTrends in Parasitology, 2009
- Malaria hemozoin is immunologically inert but radically enhances innate responses by presenting malaria DNA to Toll-like receptor 9Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2007
- The pathogenic basis of malariaNature, 2002
- CONTRIBUTION TO THE PATHOLOGICAL ANATOMY OF MALARIAL FEVERThe Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1902