ArticlePloS one2026
Postpartum cytokine shifts and IL-10-mediated immune suppression in malaria-infected primigravid women.
Article in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAccording to the World Health Organization's recent report, malaria remains a major health challenge during pregnancy and for postpartum women in endemic regions. While immune alterations during pregnancy are well characterized, postpartum cytokine dynamics and their impact on malaria susceptibility remain poorly defined. This study uniquely investigates how cytokine balance shifts, contribute to malaria susceptibility in primigravid women during the postpartum period.
methodsA total of 33 Burkinabè women were enrolled at delivery and followed up at 1 and 3 months postpartum. Plasma cytokine concentrations (IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, IFN-γ) were quantified by ELISA. Malaria infection was detected by PCR and microscopy. Statistical analyses included effect size calculations and cluster analyses to assess immune profiles.
resultsAt delivery, 48.5% of women tested positive for malaria by PCR. Malaria-infected women had significantly elevated IL-10 levels and a decreased IL-6:IL-10 ratio compared with non-infected women (p = 0.005). This anti-inflammatory shift persisted into the early postpartum period. Strong correlations were observed between IL-10 levels and malaria infection (σ = 0.9, p < 0.001). Of note, IL-4 also showed a significant effect, highlighting a complex immunoregulatory environment.
conclusionOur findings reveal, for the first time in a Sub-Saharan primigravid cohort, that an IL-10-dominant cytokine profile at delivery is strongly associated with postpartum malaria susceptibility. Modulating cytokine responses could represent a novel therapeutic approach to improving maternal health in malaria-endemic regions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.