Reduced risk of placental parasitemia associated with complement fixation on Plasmodium falciparum by antibodies among pregnant women

DH Opi; MJ Boyle; ARD McLean; L Reiling; JA Chan; DI Stanisic; A Ura; I Mueller; FJI Fowkes; SJ Rogerson; JG Beeson

Journal article

Reduced risk of placental parasitemia associated with complement fixation on Plasmodium falciparum by antibodies among pregnant women

DH Opi, MJ Boyle, ARD McLean, L Reiling, JA Chan, DI Stanisic, A Ura, I Mueller, FJI Fowkes, SJ Rogerson, JG Beeson

BMC Medicine | BMC | Published : 2021

DOI: 10.1186/s12916-021-02061-x

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Abstract

Background: The pathogenesis of malaria in pregnancy (MiP) involves accumulation of P. falciparum-infected red blood cells (pRBCs) in the placenta, contributing to poor pregnancy outcomes. Parasite accumulation is primarily mediated by P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1). Magnitude of IgG to pRBCs has been associated with reduced risk of MiP in some studies, but associations have been inconsistent. Further, antibody effector mechanisms are poorly understood, and the role of antibody complement interactions is unknown. Methods: Studying a longitudinal cohort of pregnant women (n=302) from a malaria-endemic province in Papua New Guinea (PNG), we measured the ability of antibo..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Alistair McLean Author

Ivo Mueller Author

Freya Fowkes Author

Stephen Rogerson Author

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (Project grant 575534 and Program Grant 1092789 to J.G.B. and S.J.R; Investigator Grant 1173046 and Research Fellowship 1077626 to J.G.B). Burnet Institute is supported by the NHMRC Independent Research Institutes Infrastructure Support Scheme and the Victorian State Government Operational Infrastructure Support. DHO, MJB, LR, JAC, IM, FJIF, SJR, and JGB are members of the NHMRC Australian Centre for Research Excellence in Malaria Elimination. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of data, writing of the manuscript, or decision to publish.