Asymptomatic malaria parasitemia does not induce additional oxidative stress in pregnant women of South East Nigeria

ObjectiveTo determine the relationship between asymptomatic malaria parasitemia and some oxidative stress parameters in pregnant Nigerian women.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study involving 130 normal pregnant women at various trimesters, who were attending antenatal clinic at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) and Kenechukwu Specialist Hospital in Enugu. A comparable group (control), made of 30 non pregnant women was also recruited. After a 24 hour dietary recall, serum levels of vitamin A, C and malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined by colorimetric method, while vitamin E was determined by absorptiometric method.ResultsThere were no statistically significant differences in age, parity, estimated calorie, vitamins A, C and E intake between the pregnant and non pregnant groups (P> 0.05). The serum level of the vitamins (umol/L) and MDA (umol/L) in control, 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimesters respectively were: (1)Vitamin A: 1.6±0.36 vs 0.6±0.26 vs 0.62± 0.33 vs 0.46± 0.21 (P < 0.0001); (2) Vitamin C: 75.65±14.15 vs 62.97±24.4 vs 37.85±15.19 vs 28.94±8.52 (P<0.0001); (3) Vitamin E: 3.01± 1.32 vs 3.45±2.01 vs 9.36±2.75 vs 9.82±2.97 (P<0.0001); (4) MDA: 1.42± 0.02 vs 1.61±0.02 vs 1.79±0.02 vs 2.03±0.05 (P<0.0001). However, there were no significant changes in the serum level of the vitamins and MDA between the positive and the negative parasitemia subjects (P>0.05).ConclusionsAsymptomatic malaria parasitemia does not induce additional oxidative stress on pregnant women in Nigeria. The enormity of acute and complicated attack should be further investigated.