Genetic mutation prevents fetal malaria transmission, study says

Sep 11 2008

A genetic mutation of the fetal gene sFlt1 might protect fetuses of first-time pregnant women from contracting malaria, according to a study published online Sept. 8 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ANI/Thaindian News reports.

For the study, researchers led by Patrick Duffy of Seattle Biomedical Research Institute examined 565 women in Tanzania's Muheza district. The researchers found that 75 fetuses of women pregnant for the first time had two copies of the mutated gene. All of the 75 fetuses were delivered, according to the study. However, 10% of women pregnant for the first time whose fetuses did not have the mutated gene had a miscarriage. In addition, infants born without the mutation were twice as likely to be born underweight as those with the mutation.

According to Duffy, the mutated gene might reduce maternal inflammation and protect fetuses from contracting malaria during a woman's first pregnancy. After subsequent pregnancies, women develop antibody resistance to placental malaria, which might increase the survival chances for fetuses without the mutation. "This is the first resistance gene identified for any infectious disease that functions in (the womb)," Duffy said (ANI/Thaindian News, 9/9).

An abstract of the study is available online.