BackgroundPregnant women and young children bear the highest burden of malaria morbidity/mortality. While transplacental transfer of malaria antibodies protects the child, the efficiency varies by antigen and maternal factors.
This systematic review assessed transplacental transfer of malaria antibodies, factors associated with reduced transfer and identified knowledge gaps for future research.MethodWe searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and HINARI from the inception of databases until January 2025. We included published articles reporting anti-malaria antibodies in the mother and newborn, placental transfer and factors associated with reduced transplacental transfer of antibodies against malaria antigen.
Two independent reviewers conducted the selection of articles, data extraction and risk of bias assessment. Meta-analyses of malaria prevalence were performed on the peripheral blood of mothers, on the placenta, and on the cord blood of newborns.ResultForty-two studies (n=8687 pregnant women and newborns) were included in the analysis.
Twelve studies reported the prevalence of malaria among mothers detected peripherally, 13 for placental malaria, and five studies for newborns.
Frontiers in Immunology published a clinical update in Infectious Disease on 19 Jun 2026.
The item focuses on Transplacental transfer of anti-malarial antibodies: a systematic review.
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