A perspective co-authored by Zainab Mahmoud, MD, MSc, assistant professor of medicine in the Cardiovascular Division; Ifeoma Obionu, PhD, MSc, a postdoctoral research associate in Global Cardiovascular Health; and Mark D. Huffman, MD, MPH, professor of medicine in the Cardiovascular Division, and Co-Director of the WashU Global Health Center, highlights emerging evidence linking malaria during pregnancy to preeclampsia, a serious pregnancy complication associated with increased long-term cardiovascular disease risk. Their article was published in Communications Medicine.
The authors and their collaborators reviewed epidemiologic and biological evidence suggesting that Plasmodium falciparum malaria and preeclampsia share common pathways, including placental inflammation, vascular dysfunction and impaired blood flow to the placenta. These overlapping mechanisms may help explain why malaria infection during pregnancy appears to be associated with a higher risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, including preeclampsia.
Because preeclampsia is associated with substantially elevated risks of future heart disease, stroke and heart failure, the researchers propose that malaria prevention strategies already used in many African countries could provide previously unrecognized cardiovascular benefits. They call for additional studies to determine whether interventions such as preventive antimalarial treatment, insecticide-treated bed nets and earlier prenatal care can help reduce the burden of preeclampsia and improve long-term maternal cardiovascular health.
The perspective also outlines a research and implementation agenda to better integrate malaria prevention, maternal health and cardiovascular disease prevention in regions where malaria remains endemic.