Sujittra ChaisavaneeyakornJulie M. MooreCaroline OthoroJuliana OtienoSansanee C. ChaiyarojYa Ping ShiBernard L. NahlenAltaf A. LalVenkatachalam UdhayakumarNational Center for Infectious DiseasesThe University of GeorgiaMahidol UniversityKenya Medical Research InstitutNew Nyanza Provincial General HospitalOrganisation Mondiale de la Sante2018-07-242018-07-242002-11-01Journal of Infectious Diseases. Vol.186, No.9 (2002), 1371-1375002218992-s2.0-0036839058https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/20346Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) may play a role in immune responses to malaria during pregnancy by virtue of its ability to activate macrophages and to overcome the immunosuppressive effect of glucocorticoids. The present study investigated whether plasma MIF levels are altered in pregnant women with placental malaria (PM) and/or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. For the first time it is demonstrated that MIF levels in the intervillous blood (IVB) plasma were significantly elevated, compared with that in both peripheral plasma (500-fold) and cord plasma (4.6-fold; P < .01). IVB mononuclear cells also produced significantly higher levels of MIF, compared with that of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. PM was associated with increased levels of MIF in the IVB plasma (P < .02). Primigravid and secundigravid women had significantly higher levels of MIF in their IVB plasma than did multigravid women (P < .05). HIV infection did not significantly alter MIF levels in any site examined.Mahidol UniversityMedicineArticleSCOPUS10.1086/344322