Infection During Pregnancy in Mice ‘Imprints’ Immunity, and Inflammation, on Offspring

Infection During Pregnancy in Mice 'Imprints' Immunity, and Inflammation, on Offspring

Friday, August 27, 2021 This colorized scanning electron micrograph shows a type of helper T cell. (NIAID) Infection During Pregnancy in Mice 'Imprints' Immunity, and Inflammation, on Offspring Mice infected with a foodborne bacterium during pregnancy generated an immune response in the gut that protected the mother and imprinted that protective response in the developing offspring, NIAID scientists show in a new study published in Science. The maternal immune response to the infection, they reveal, uses protein signals that teach the developing fetal cells to remember the infection. The story isn't all rosy though: The researchers also discovered that those signaling proteins, interleukin 6 (IL-6), also make the developing fetus more prone to inflammatory disorders, such as colitis. The researchers plan additional studies of the maternal-fetal relationship and whether microbial and environmental changes – in animal models and people – can shift immune development from protective to inflammatory. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases  |  National Institutes of Health Update your subscriptions, modify your password or e-mail address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your e-mail address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact Subscriber Help. This service is provided to you at no charge by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).                             This email was sent to myhcistech.healthnews360@blogger.com using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 5601 Fishers Lane · Bethesda, MD 20892 · 1-866-284-4107