Last Updated: 17/06/2024
Role of maternal immunity in the clinical outcomes of malaria in pregnancy (ImmunoMiPPAD)
Objectives
Five-hundred and thirty pregnant women will be enrolled for an open, randomized superiority trial in the context of the Malaria in Pregnancy Prevention Alternative Drugs (MiPPAD) project. Blood samples will be collected before the women receive intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy doses (first at least 13 weeks into gestation and second at least one month after the previous dose) and at delivery. Antibodymediated immunity (malaria-specific and general), cellular immunity (effector and memory) and hormonal levels will be determined and associated with pregnancy outcomes.
Women are at higher risk of infection and disease when pregnant. Since parityincreasing levels of IgGs against the surface of infected erythrocytes isolated from the placenta mirror the increasing resistance to malaria over successive pregnancies, they have been causally related to the acquisition of protection against malaria during pregnancy. However, increasing levels of antibodies with parity have been found for a broad range of Plasmodium falciparum antigens, suggesting the possibility of a generalized effect of the physiology of pregnancy on maternal immunity. The increased susceptibility of primigravidae women to malaria may be explained by pregnancy-associated physiologic factors conferring advantage on malaria infection, rather than just a lack of immunity against placental parasites. The objective of the study was to determine
Jan 2009 — Dec 2012
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