Insight Into the Pathogenesis of Fetal Growth Restriction in Placental Malaria: Decreased Placental Glucose Transporter Isoform 1 Expression

Plasmodium falciparum–negative placenta biopsy specimens was comparable to that inP. falciparum–positive placenta biopsy specimens with or without intervillositis, whereas GLUT-1 expression in the basal plasma membrane was lowest in P. falciparum–positive placenta biopsy specimens with intervillositis, compared with the other 2 specimen types (P ≤ .0016). GLUT-1 expression in the basal plasma membrane also correlated negatively with monocyte infiltrate density (r = −0.43; P = .003) and positively with birth weight (r = 0.28; P = .06). These findings suggest that intervillositis, more than placental malaria per se, might cause fetal growth restriction, through impaired transplacental glucose transport.