TLR4-Mediated Placental Pathology and Pregnancy Outcome in Experimental Malaria.

ABSTRACT: Malaria-associate pregnancy has a significant impact on infant morbidity and mortality. The detrimental effects of malaria infection during pregnancy have been shown to correlate with immune activation in the placental tissue. Herein we sought to evaluate the effect of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) activation on placental malaria (PM) development by using the Plasmodium berghei NK65^GFP infection model. We observed that activation of the innate immune system by parasites leads to PM due to local inflammation. We identified TLR4 activation as the main pathway involved in the inflammatory process in the placental tissue since the absence of functional TLR4 in mice leads to a decrease in the pro-inflammatory responses, which resulted in an improved pregnancy outcome. Additionally, a si

SUBMITTER: Barboza R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5561130 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature