[ad_1]
The researchers found that the immune system can play a role in preventing premature labor and birth.
Previously, it was known that cytokines – small proteins that alert the body of infection and cause inflammation – are found in the amniotic fluid of many women who gave birth prematurely.
Although the immune system must attack the fetus, a foreign body in the womb, something prevents it during pregnancy.
This means that protection is stopped for some women, causing premature labor, the researchers said.
"There are many anti-inflammatory mechanisms that prevent the fetus from being rejected, so we thought that a dangerous inflammation could break the barrier of tolerance, promote the birth of a baby." even or especially of an untimely birth, "said Anthony Vella, immunologist at the University of Connecticut.
In the study published in the journal Reproductive Sciences, the team took cells from the female reproductive tract and amniotic fluid that surrounds the fetuses in the uterus and exposed them to fragments of bacteria in the laboratory.
As expected, cells produce many cytokines, but these are not primarily those that cause inflammation.
Instead, they saw much more granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) than expected.
GM-CSF is a kind of cytokine that allows cells to grow quickly and become bacteria-eating macrophages. The macrophage population in pregnant women tends to increase just before childbirth. It is unclear, however, whether this is directly related to birth or a side effect of another process.
The discovery that GM-CSF is released in response to a perceived bacterial infection is intriguing because there is already a drug that blocks GM-CSF.
Treatment of pregnant mice with this drug significantly reduced premature birth in mice exposed to fragments of dangerous bacteria. If efforts to prevent premature births could be so simple, it would change the game, the researchers noted.
"We hope to do more studies on the immune mechanism in mice, and in the not-too-distant future, we hope to start looking at human studies," the researchers said.
–IANS
RT / MAG / BG
(This story has not been changed by Business Standard staff and is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
[ad_2]
Source link
