Maternal Expressions (Serum Levels) of Alpha Tumour Necrosis Factor, Interleukin 10, Interleukin 6 and Interleukin 4 in Malaria Infected Pregnant Women Based on Parity in a Tertiary Hospital in Southeast, Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria has been reported as a condition caused by infestation with Plasmodium parasite specie, which is a great public health problem globally, particularly in developing countries like Nigeria. This study was carried out in Federal Medical Centre Umuahia in Abia State, Nigeria. The study was done to determine the maternal serum levels of alpha tumour necrosis factor, interleukin 10, interleukin 6, and interleukin 4 in malaria-infected pregnant women based on parities in Southeast, Nigeria.  A total of 150 subjects between the ages of 18-45 years were recruited for the study comprising 50 subjects each of 3 parities (groups A-C). A commercial ELISA Kit was used to measure all the cytokines. Neither statistically significant differences were found for TNF-α (p=0.636), IL-10 (p=0.892), IL-6 (p=0.306) and IL-4 (p=0.222) between prime parity and second parity nor for TNF-α (p=0.356), IL-10 (p=0.896), IL-6 (p=0.304) and IL-4 (p=0.298) between prime parity and multi-parity of malaria-infected pregnant women. TNF-α (p=0.255), IL-10 (p=0.524), IL-6 (p=0.616), and IL-4 (p=0.672) between second parity and on multi-parity respectively. The study showed no changes in the cytokines studied among the malaria-infected pregnant women based on parities. It shows that the number of pregnancies in women infected with malaria has no changes in the levels of the cytokines studied.