Expression of heat shock protein 90, 70, 60 and 25 in the placenta of Plasmodium berghei infected BALB/c mice

To assess the role of heat shock proteins (hsps) in the placental pathology of Plasmodium berghei infected mice. Female BALB/c mice were infected with Plasmodium berghei infected RBC intraperitoneally on 10th gestational day. The expression of hsps in the placenta were monitored by reverse transcriptase real time PCR. There was increased expression of hsps 90, 70, 60 and 25 genes on day 2, 4 and 6 post infection in the infected placenta. However, the expression of hsps 70, 60 and 25 genes decreased with the progression of malaria infection. Decreased expression of hsps 70, 60 and 25 genes in the malaria infected placenta might be one of the many other factors responsible for apoptosis in the placenta and may be responsible for associated altered placental pathology and fetal abnormalities.