New therapy helps pregnant women not get infections

Researchers working at the School of Medicine, University of Minnesota, USA, have identified the basic mechanism of physiological immunosuppression that can lead to new therapies to help prevent infections during pregnancy. .

Pregnant women are prone to infection. However, by controlling an inhibitory immune cell, the researchers believe it will be more effective at fighting prenatal infections.

In the fetal stage, the T-cell regulation of the immune system will increase in number, protecting the fetus from being attacked by the mother's immune system.

Because these regulated T cells are busy protecting the developing fetus, pregnant mothers will be limited in their ability to fight off infections caused by common pathogenic bacteria, such as Listeria and Salmonella bacteria.

Pregnant mothers are very susceptible to infections.

Using the pregnant mouse model, Dr Sing Sing Way, associate professor working at the Department of Pediatrics and Microbiology, and colleagues from the Center for Research in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Develop a method to separate the beneficial and adverse effects of regulatory T cells of the immune system in pregnant mice.

Specifically, when immunosuppressive molecules IL-10 are removed from regulated T cells, the result is that pregnant maternal mice are able to counteract prenatal infections . More importantly, the removal of the IL-10 molecule does not cause any negative effects on the outcome of pregnancy.

The results of the study were published in Cell Host & Microbe Magazine, July 2011.

" The study has determined that important immune cells needed to maintain the fetus also make pregnant mothers susceptible to infection ," said Dr Sing Sing Way. " The results of this study have helped us discover a broad-based immunotherapy that can help strengthen the resistance of a pregnant mother's immune system to fight infections during the time. pregnancy without affecting pregnancy outcomes . "

Pregnant mothers do not always know when they have an infection, and sometimes symptoms and common signs are faint, Way added. Delaying treatment not only harms the health of the mother, but also causes infection to the developing fetus.

The study received funding from the US National Institute of Medicine. Co-authors include: Jared Rowe and James Ertelt of the Department of Pediatrics and Microbiology, Dr. Marijo Aguilera of the Division of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health, and Dr. Michael Farrar of the Division Medical experiment, Department of pathology.