Increased risk of low birth weight in women with placental malaria associated with P. falciparum VAR2CSA clade.

ABSTRACT: Pregnancy associated malaria (PAM) causes adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes owing to Plasmodium falciparum accumulation in the placenta. Placental accumulation is mediated by P. falciparum protein VAR2CSA, a leading PAM-specific vaccine target. The extent of its antigen diversity and impact on clinical outcomes remain poorly understood. Through amplicon deep-sequencing placental malaria samples from women in Malawi and Benin, we assessed sequence diversity of VAR2CSA's ID1-DBL2x region, containing putative vaccine targets and estimated associations of specific clades with adverse birth outcomes. Overall, var2csa diversity was high and haplotypes subdivided into five clades, the largest two defined by homology to parasites strains, 3D7 or FCR3. Across both cohorts, compared to women infe

SUBMITTER: Patel JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5554196 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature