Placental Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in Serum of Some Nigerian Pregnant Women Infected with Malaria

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 P.falciparum 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 P.falciparum malarial infected pregnant women were therefore investigated. Forty (40) pregnant women (20 infected with P.falciparum 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.