| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
Malaria during pregnancy, which is characterized by the accumulation of infected erythrocytes in the placenta, often has severe consequences for the mother and newborn. We assessed the effect of the genetic trait South-East Asian ovalocytosis (SAO) on placental malaria in women from Papua New Guinea. In children, this trait confers protection against cerebral malaria, but not against mild malaria disease, malaria parasitemia, or severe malaria anemia. Using a case-control approach, we found that SAO women suffer from placental malaria, and SAO-infected erythrocytes can sequester in the placenta, but heavy placental infections tended to be less common in SAO than in control pregnant women. Reduced prevalence and severity of placental infection associated with SAO were observed only for primigravid women, who are the group at highest risk of suffering from severe manifestations of placental malaria. Furthermore, we found that the prevalence of the SAO trait was lower among pregnant women than among non-pregnant controls.
Received December 14, 2005. Accepted for publication May 10, 2006.
Acknowledgments: We are extremely grateful to all the pregnant women in the Madang North coast who participated in the study. We are also grateful to Martin Imbans for assistance with the field work, to Aphrodite Caragounis and Edson Dembo for assistance with the flow cytometry, to Blaise Genton for useful discussions about the study, and to the staff at the Alexishafen and Mugil health centers for their constant support to this study, especially sister Balsi and Marian Baniwap.
Financial support: This investigation received financial assistance from UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR). SJR is supported by a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship.
* Address correspondence to Alfred Cortés, National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK. E-mail: acortes{at}nimr.mrc.ac.uk
The American Committee on Clinical Tropical Medicine and Travelers’ Health (ACCTMTH) assisted with publication costs.
Authors’ addresses: Ariadna Benet, C./Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 264, 6th floor, door 4, Barcelona 08041 Spain, E-mail: ariadnabm{at}yahoo.com. T. Yee Khong, Department of Histopathology, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, 72 King William Road, North Adelaide, South Australia 5006, Australia, Telephone: 61-8-81616793, Fax: 61-8-81617022, E-mail: yee.khong{at}adelaide.edu.au. Alice Ura, Rebecca Samen, Kerry Lorry, Mata Mellombo, Livingstone Tavul, and Key Baea, Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Madang, P.O.Box 378, MP511, Papua New Guinea, Telephone: 675-8522909, Fax: 675-8523289, E-mail: yagaum{at}pngimr.org.pg. Stephen J. Rogerson, Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria 3050, Australia, Telephone: 61-3-83443259, Fax: 61-3-93471863, E-mail: sroger{at}unimelb.edu.au. Alfred Cortés, National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK, Telephone: 44-20-88162402, Fax: 44-20-88162730. Current address: Institut de Recerca Biomédica (IRB), Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB), C./Josep Samitier 1–5 08028 Barcelona, Telephone: 34-93-403-4867, Fas: 34-93-403-4870, E-mail: acortes{at}nimr.mrc.ac.uk.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  A. O'DONNELL, A. RAIKO, J. B. CLEGG, D. J. WEATHERALL, and S. J. ALLEN SOUTHEAST ASIAN OVALOCYTOSIS AND PREGNANCY IN A MALARIA-ENDEMIC REGION OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA Am J Trop Med Hyg, April 1, 2007; 76(4): 631 - 633. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
