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The sick placenta - The role of malaria

Brabin, Bernard, Romagosa, C., Abdelgalil, S., Menendez, C., Verhoeff, Francine H., McGready, R., Fletcher, K. A., Owens, S., d'Alessandro, U., Nosten, F., Fischer, P. R. and Ordi, J. (2004) 'The sick placenta - The role of malaria'. Placenta, Vol 25, Issue 5, pp. 359-378.

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Abstract

The human placenta is an ideal site for the accumulation of Plasinodium falciparum malaria parasites, and as a consequence serious health problems arise for the mother and her baby. The pathogenesis of placental malaria is only partially understood, but it is clear that it leads to a distinct epidemiological pattern of malaria during pregnancy. The objectives of this review are: (1) To review recent data on the epidemiology of malaria in pregnancy, with emphasis on placental malaria; (2) to describe the pathological changes and immunological factors related to placental malaria; and (3) to discuss briefly the functional consequences of this infection for the mother and her baby. The review attempts to bring together local events at the maternal-fetal interface which encompass immunological and pathological processes which relate to the epidemiological pattern of malaria in pregnancy in areas of both high and low malaria transmission. An integrated understanding of the epidemiological, immunological and pathological processes must be achieved in order to understand how to control malaria in pregnancy. The yearly exposure of at least 50 million pregnancies to malaria infection makes it the commonest and most recurrent parasitic infection directly affecting the placenta. These statistics and our limited understanding of its pathogenesis suggest the research priorities on this subject. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: falciparum-infected erythrocytes chondroitin sulfate-a intrauterine growth-retardation low-birth-weight intercellular-adhesion molecule-1 immunodeficiency-virus-infection materno-foetal relationship umbilical-cord-blood plasmodium-falciparum pregnant-women
Subjects: WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 750 Malaria
WQ Obstetrics > WQ 20 Research (General)
Digital Object Identifer (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.placenta.2003.10.019
Depositing User: Ms Julia Martin
Date Deposited: 05 Apr 2012 08:49
Last Modified: 03 Dec 2024 09:34
URI: https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/2217

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