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Placental Malaria

  • The Placenta, Tropical Diseases, and Pregnancies (D Schwartz, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Placental malaria is the primary mechanism through which malaria in pregnancy causes adverse perinatal outcomes. This review summarizes recent work on the significance, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and prevention of placental malaria.

Recent Findings

Placental malaria, characterized by the accumulation of Plasmodium-infected red blood cells in the placental intervillous space, leads to adverse perinatal outcomes such as stillbirth, low birth weight, preterm birth, and small-for-gestational-age neonates. Placental inflammatory responses may be primary drivers of these complications. Associated factors contributing to adverse outcomes include maternal gravidity, timing of perinatal infection, and parasite burden.

Summary

Placental malaria is an important cause of adverse birth outcomes in endemic regions. The main strategy to combat this is intermittent preventative treatment in pregnancy; however, increasing drug resistance threatens the efficacy of this approach. There are studies dissecting the inflammatory response to placental malaria, alternative preventative treatments, and in developing a vaccine for placental malaria.

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Funding

SLG is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIAID K08AI141728).

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Author notes

  1. Arthurine K. Zakama and Nida Ozarslan contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave, Box 0556, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA

    Arthurine K. Zakama & Stephanie L. Gaw

  2. Marmara University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey

    Nida Ozarslan

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  1. Arthurine K. Zakama
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  2. Nida Ozarslan
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  3. Stephanie L. Gaw
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Correspondence to Stephanie L. Gaw.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on The Placenta, Tropical Diseases, and Pregnancies

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Zakama, A.K., Ozarslan, N. & Gaw, S.L. Placental Malaria. Curr Trop Med Rep 7, 162–171 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40475-020-00213-2

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