Placental microcirculation may influence malaria in pregnancy

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

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

In vivo observation revealed that blood circulation in the placenta is not homogeneous, with areas of higher and lower blood flow, where the malaria parasite behaves differently: there is a greater accumulation of parasites in the regions with low blood flow. In these areas, cells from the placenta and the mouse's immune system assault the infected red blood cells, trying to eliminate the parasite, and triggering inflammatory reactions that cause the symptoms of the disease. Reproducing this study in the placenta of humans would be, according to Carlos Penha-Gonçalves "(...) interesting (...), taking into consideration that the microcirculation in the human placenta is quite different."