Plasmodium falciparum Malaria Elicits Inflammatory Responses that Dysregulate Placental Amino Acid Transport

P Boeuf; EH Aitken; U Chandrasiri; CLL Chua; B McInerney; L McQuade; M Duffy; M Molyneux; G Brown; J Glazier; SJ Rogerson

Journal article

Plasmodium falciparum Malaria Elicits Inflammatory Responses that Dysregulate Placental Amino Acid Transport

P Boeuf, EH Aitken, U Chandrasiri, CLL Chua, B McInerney, L McQuade, M Duffy, M Molyneux, G Brown, J Glazier, SJ Rogerson

Plos Pathogens | PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE | Published : 2013

DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003153

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Abstract

Placental malaria (PM) can lead to poor neonatal outcomes, including low birthweight due to fetal growth restriction (FGR), especially when associated with local inflammation (intervillositis or IV). The pathogenesis of PM-associated FGR is largely unknown, but in idiopathic FGR, impaired transplacental amino acid transport, especially through the system A group of amino acid transporters, has been implicated. We hypothesized that PM-associated FGR could result from impairment of transplacental amino acid transport triggered by IV. In a cohort of Malawian women and their infants, the expression and activity of system A (measured by Na+-dependent 14C-MeAIB uptake) were reduced in PM, especial..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Elizabeth Aitken Author

Michael Duffy Author

Graham Brown Author

Stephen Rogerson Author

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

These studies were funded by a project grant from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council to SJR and JG (509185 www.nhmrc.gov.au), an Early Career Researcher Grant from the University of Melbourne to PB (600599 www.unimelb.edu.au) and a travel award from the Australian Society for Parasitology to PB (www.parasite.org.au). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.