Haematological alteration and histopathology of vital organs of pups delivered by mice infected with <i>Plasmodium berghei</i> during the second and third stage of pregnancy

Abstract

Pregnancy associated malaria (PAM) is a potentially life-threatening condition that affects the new-born. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of PAM on the haematological parameters and histopathology of some vital organs of pups delivered by mice infected with malaria in the second and third stages of pregnancy. Thirty female Swiss albino mice were randomly assigned into three groups, two groups of which were intraperitoneally infected with inoculums containing 3.97 x 10 6 Plasmodium berghei infected red blood cells at gestational days (GD 12 and 17), while the third group were uninfected (control). Pregnant females were allowed to deliver and progenies were monitored for three weeks. The red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), packed cell volume (PCV) and haemoglobin (HB) concentration was significantly lower (p<0.05) in pups of mice infected in the 2nd and 3rd stages of pregnancy as compared to the pups from non-infected mother. Histopathological alterations observed in the pup’s organs of mice infected in the 2nd and 3rd stages of pregnancy include fatty degeneration in the liver, interstitial pneumonia and oedema in the alveolar sac of the lungs, severe lymphoid depletion of the spleen, degeneration of tubular epithelial cells of the kidney and vacuolar degeneration in the brain. More severe damages were seen in pups from mice infected in the 2nd stage of pregnancy. This study showed that  pregnancy associated malaria induce anaemia and damaging effects on vital organs of progeny of mice infected in the 2nd and 3rd stages of pregnancy.

Keyword: Pregnancy associated malaria, Plasmodium berghei, Parasitaemia, Birth weight, Haematological profile, Organ histopathology