The immune system can detect diseases during pregnancy

Pregnancy poses a challenge to the mother's immune system from the very beginning

The immune system must strike a balance between tolerating the fetus and protecting the mother and fetus from infection

At the Center for Molecular Inflammation Research (CEMIR) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), a research team is studying inflammation during pregnancy

Anders Hagen Jarmund is a research project student, and his colleagues at CEMIR were the first researchers to investigate the development of a woman’s immune response during pregnancy

The study tracked 707 women who were pregnant with normal pregnancy, all of whom gave birth to healthy full-term and postpartum babies

"Our immune system is regulated by cell signaling molecules called cytokines

"Because we have so many healthy pregnant women in the study, we were able to find the'standard' for the behavior of the immune system during normal pregnancy," he said

A blood sample from the mother provides detailed information about early signs of body inflammation, fetal stress, and immune disorders

Researchers have found that the immune activity of normal pregnancy follows a certain pattern.

Jamond believes that it is very useful to study the behavior of the immune system during normal pregnancy

"Our research can be used as a reference for normal diet at different stages of pregnancy

"Early detection can help doctors assess whether a woman is at increased risk of disease and requires additional close follow-up

Risk factors

Jamond found that several conditions in the mother or fetus can cause an abnormal immune response

"The immune changes detected by the cytokine profile are very sensitive.

Another finding is that women who have had children before have significantly higher immune activation in the early stages of pregnancy, but as delivery approaches, immune activation is lower than that of women who have given birth for the first time

Method used for PCOS

Live Marie T.

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a hormonal disorder characterized by elevated levels of male hormones and blisters in the ovaries
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Approximately 17% of women of childbearing age are affected
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Women with polycystic ovary syndrome often experience irregular menstruation, excess weight, increased facial and body hair growth, and they often have difficulty getting pregnant
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The risks of women with polycystic ovary syndrome during pregnancy include preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and preterm birth
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Increased immune system activity

Stockland analyzed blood samples from 358 women with polycystic ovary syndrome and a group of healthy women
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She found that women with this disease had higher immune activation during the entire pregnancy than healthy women, and their immune response developed differently during the three stages of pregnancy
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Women with PCOS who smoke or are overweight have stronger immune activation
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Once we map out the characteristics of various pregnancy complications, it will tell us which abnormalities we should look for in order to detect the development of the disease as soon as possible
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"We believe that overactive cytokines in pregnant women with polycystic ovary syndrome are an adverse reaction that indicates stress, which may be a factor that increases the risk of complications
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" We hope that further research will tell us more about adverse reactions.
And what can be done to prevent them,” Stokkeland said
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High-risk pregnancy found

Professor Ann-Charlotte Iversen (Ann-Charlotte Iversen) led a group to study inflammation during pregnancy, and he believes that these two studies provide exciting prospects
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Iverson said: "The cytokine profile is a very sensitive measurement of the immune system.
Now we have a better understanding of the normal development of the immune system during pregnancy and how it is affected
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"

"Once we map out the characteristics of various pregnancy complications, it will tell us which abnormalities we should look for in order to find the development of the disease as soon as possible
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" With this sensitive method, we can point out high-risk pregnancies more closely.
Track mother and fetus
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This is our goal," Iverson said
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The research team in the Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine does not yet know whether every disease produces a unique "fingerprint" in the immune response
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So far, analysis has shown that PCOS and pregnancy-induced hypertension (hypertension) have abnormal cytokine profiles in the first trimester
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references

Anders Hagen Jarmund et al:   Cytokine Patterns in Maternal Serum From First Trimester to Term and Beyond,  Frontiers in Immunology.
https://doi.
org/10.
3389/fimmu.
2021.
752660