# Choice of Drug for Malaria Prevention During Pregnancy Does Not Affect Infant Serologic Responses to Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocyte Membrane Proteins 1

## TL;DR

This study found that the choice of malaria prevention drug during pregnancy does not affect infants' immune responses to malaria-related proteins.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel approach to assess the impact of antimalarial drugs on infant immunity using protein microarrays.

## Key findings

- DP and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine had similar effects on infant antibody responses to malaria proteins.
- Maternal malaria prevention does not alter infant susceptibility to malaria.
- Cord blood sera showed no significant differences in antibody levels between drug groups.

## Abstract

While sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine has been the primary drug in intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy, dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) is being considered as an alternative. DP may lead to lower antimalarial antibodies in the mother, resulting in higher risk of malaria in infancy. We probed cord blood sera collected from women enrolled in a clinical trial of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine vs DP on a protein microarray containing diverse Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane proteins 1 to measure the impact of intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy on proteins associated with malaria disease susceptibility. These results suggest that effective maternal malaria prevention may not alter the susceptibility of infants to malaria.