Abstract
Placental alkaline phosphatase, the heat-stable (hsALP) isoform is produced by the placenta and its activity has been associated with cord blood nutrients and proper foetal growth. Transplacental transmission of <i>P.falciparum </i>malaria has been reported and this has been observed to cause congenital malaria, anaemia and reduced neonatal birth weight, an evidence of poor growth. Changes in mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), an index of anaemia and hsALP activity in serum of <i>P.falciparum</i> malarial infected pregnant women were therefore investigated. Forty (40) pregnant women (20 infected with <i>P.falciparum</i> and 20 uninfected) were selected from Abraka in Delta State, Nigeria. MCHC and hsALP were estimated as previously described. Results show that Malaria infection during pregnancy reduced MCHC value (34.55±2.29 g/dL) but increased hsALP activity value (96.10±12.39 IU/L) when compared with the value from the uninfected pregnant women (MCHC=38.97±2.26 g/dL; hsALP=66.80±7.59 IU/L). The age of subjects and gestational period did not significantly alter the trend of the observed data. Experimental information suggests that malarial infection during pregnancy induces a measure of microcytic anaemia as judged by the MCHC value, and a degree of compromise in placental (membrane) integrity as evidenced by the elevated serum activities of hsALP. hsALP and nutrient levels in umbilical cord blood should be further studied and results correlated with neonatal birth weight in order to strengthen the present observation and improve the understanding of placental functions during malarial infection in pregnancy.
Highlights
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium
Malarial infection is usually caused by Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium vivax and the rare Plasmodium knowlesi
Values of the haematological parameters (PCV, Hb and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC)) were reduced among pregnant women with malarial infection when compared with pregnant women without the infection
Summary
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. Malarial infection is usually caused by Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium vivax and the rare Plasmodium knowlesi. P. falciparum has been shown to be the common cause of the malarial in fection and is responsible for about eighty percent (80%) of all malarial cases and ninety percent (90%) of the deaths arising from malaria[1]. Increased activities of liver enzy me in seru m o f affect ed pat ients have b een observ ed among Nigerians[3]. Th is observat ion was att ributed to hepat ic d amag e b y perh aps t h e exo ery th ro cy t ic fo rm o f P. falcipa ru m wh ich inhab its t he liver. The parasit es destroy red blood cells and induces anaemia as previously
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