Malaria in the postpartum period causes damage to the mammary gland

Abstract

Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland in the breast and is typically due to bacterial infection. In malaria-endemic areas, mastitis with accompanying fever can be challenging to differentiate from malaria. At the same time, it is unclear whether malaria infection is directly involved in the development of mastitis. In the present study, whether mastitis develops during infection with malaria parasites was investigated using a rodent malaria model with Plasmodium berghei (P. berghei; Pb) ANKA. The course of parasitemia in postpartum mice infected with Pb ANKA was similar to the course in infected virgin mice. However, infected postpartum mice died earlier than did infected virgin mice. In addition, the weight of pups from mice infected with Pb ANKA was significantly reduced compared with pups from uninfected mice. The macroscopic and histological analyses showed apparent changes, such as destruction of the alveolus wall and extensive presence of leukocytes, in mammary gland tissue in mice infected during the postpartum period. The findings suggest that women during the postpartum period are more vulnerable to complications when infected with malaria parasites, particularly women who do not acquire protective immunity against malaria parasites. Based on the proteomic analysis, IFN-γ signaling pathway-related proteins in mammary gland tissue of the infected postpartum mice were increased. Our results indicate that inflammation induced by IFN-γ, a proinflammatory cytokine, may contribute to negative histological changes in mammary gland tissue of postpartum mice infected with Pb ANKA. In IFN-γ receptor 1-deficient (IFNGR1-KO) mice, the histological changes in mammary gland tissue of the infected postpartum wild-type mice were improved to almost normal mammary gland structure. Furthermore, weight loss in pups delivered by infected IFNGR1-KO postpartum mice was not observed. Taken together, these findings indicate that inflammation induced by IFN-γ is associated with development of mastitis in postpartum mice infected with Pb ANKA. The present study results may increase our understanding of how disease aggravation occurs during postpartum malaria.

Comparative Diagnostic Performance of Microscopy, SD-Bioline Rapid Diagnostic Test, and Polymerase Chain Reaction in the Detection of Malaria Infection among Pregnant Women at Delivery in Kumba Health District Area in the Southwest Region of Cameroon

“…Accurate and early diagnosis of malaria infection remains the key to malaria elimination in malaria-endemic areas as early and efective treatment really on this aspect. Nevertheless, to achieve the zero-malaria elimination goal [17], In general, the study percentage of malaria detected by nested PCR was higher (99.25%) compared to the percentage by TFM (11.17%) and RDT (77.23%). Tis was in agreement with the well-known improved sensitivity of PCR for malaria detection [34][35][36], as well as establishing the presence of submicroscopic illnesses in the population.…”

“…Nevertheless, to achieve the zero-malaria elimination goal [17], efective tools for malaria diagnosis are needed as clinical diagnosis of this infection remains the key, before making an informed choice on antimalarial medication. It is therefore critical to assess current malaria diagnostic tools at the national level, particularly in resource-limited settings, to determine which tool is more suitable for the detection of malaria infection among pregnant women, as accurate diagnosis of this infection must be followed by immediate treatment, as studies have shown that malaria, particularly in pregnancy, is associated with postpartum complications such as mastitis [18], and excessive uterine blood loss [19].…”

The association between acute fatty liver disease and nitric oxide during malaria in pregnancy

“…Proteins showing one or two peptide spectral matches (PSMs) were excluded. Protein levels were normalized to actin, cytoplasmic 1 (accession: P60710), as previously described [ 23 ]. The normalized experimental signal was calculated as follows: (observed experimental signal) ÷ (normalisation factor).…”