Maternal malaria induces a procoagulant and antifibrinolytic state that is embryotoxic but responsive to anticoagulant therapy.

ABSTRACT: Low birth weight and fetal loss are commonly attributed to malaria in endemic areas, but the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie these poor birth outcomes are incompletely understood. Increasing evidence suggests that dysregulated hemostasis is important in malaria pathogenesis, but its role in placental malaria (PM), characterized by intervillous sequestration of Plasmodium falciparum, proinflammatory responses, and excessive fibrin deposition is not known. To address this question, markers of coagulation and fibrinolysis were assessed in placentae from malaria-exposed primigravid women. PM was associated with significantly elevated placental monocyte and proinflammatory marker levels, enhanced perivillous fibrin deposition, and increased markers of activated coagulation and s

SUBMITTER: Avery JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3274552 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature