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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, August 2005, p. 3630-3635, Vol. 43, No. 8
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.8.3630-3635.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Real-Time Quantitative PCR for Determining the Burden of Plasmodium falciparum Parasites during Pregnancy and Infancy

Center for Global Health and Diseases, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio,¹ Division of Vector Borne Diseases, Nairobi, Kenya,² Department of Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio³

Received 17 December 2004/ Returned for modification 21 January 2005/ Accepted 11 April 2005

Real-time quantitative PCR (RTQ-PCR) provides a quick, accurate, and reproducible quantification of parasites. However, the value of RTQ-PCR for predicting clinical outcomes of malaria is unknown. Here, we compared RTQ-PCR to microscopy of blood smears, nested PCR (nPCR), and parasite circulating-antigen (CAg) assays for detection of Plasmodium falciparum in pregnant Kenyan women and their infants and related these findings to parity and birth weights in their newborns (n = 554). nPCR was the most sensitive assay for detection of malaria in pregnancy, followed in decreasing order of sensitivity by RTQ-PCR, CAg assays, and blood smears. RTQ-PCR detected a higher frequency of malaria infection (46%) in maternal peripheral blood in primiparous than in multiparous women (35%; P < 0.001), with a >12-fold difference in parasite burden (geometric mean = 25,870 versus 2,143 amplicons/µl blood; P < 0.0001). Similarly, the presence of placental malaria determined by RTQ-PCR was approximately twofold higher in primiparous versus multiparous women (21% versus 13%; P < 0.01). The presence and intensity of malaria infection in pregnant women estimated by RTQ-PCR strongly correlated with low-birth-weight babies, especially in those with high amplicon numbers. RTQ-PCR identified malaria-infected women, missed by blood smear, who were at risk for having underweight offspring. By contrast, malaria detected by nPCR and CAg assay showed a much weaker association with parity or low birth weight. Thus, RTQ-PCR provides an estimate of parasite burden that is more sensitive than blood smear and is predictive of clinical outcomes of malaria infection in pregnant women and newborns.

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