Placental microcirculation may influence malaria in pregnancy

A study published in the latest issue of the scientific journal PLOS Pathogen provides new clues about infection by the malaria parasite during pregnancy. The research team led by Carlos Penha-Gonçalves from the Disease Genetics Group at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) observed, for the first time, the blood flow in the placenta of a live mouse.

The study, funded by the FCT, shows how blood circulation in the placenta can influence local infection by the malaria parasite, which can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, prematurity, delayed uterine growth and low birth weight.

In vivo observation revealed that blood circulation in the placenta is not homogeneous, there are areas with greater and lesser blood flow, in which the behavior of the malaria parasite is different: there is a greater accumulation of parasites in regions with low blood flow. In these regions, the cells of the placenta and the mouse's immune system attack the infected red blood cells, trying to eliminate the parasite and triggering inflammatory reactions that cause the symptoms of the disease. According to Carlos Penha-Gonçalves, reproducing this study in the placenta of humans would be "(...) interesting (...), bearing in mind that the microcirculation in the human placenta is quite different."