Year: 2017
Type: review
Abstract: Despite the prevalence of viral infections in the American population, we still have a limited understanding of how they affect pregnancy and fetal development. Viruses can gain access to the decidua and placenta by ascending from the lower reproductive tract or via hematogenous transmission. Viral tropism for the decidua and placenta is then dependent on viral entry receptor expression in these tissues as well as on the maternal immune response to the virus. These factors vary by cell type and gestational age and can be affected by changes to the in utero environment and maternal immunity. Some viruses can directly infect the fetus at specific times during gestation, while some only infect the placenta. Both scenarios can result in severe birth defects or pregnancy loss. Systemic maternal viral infections can also affect the pregnancy, and these can be especially dangerous, because pregnant women suffer higher virus-associated morbidity and mortality than do nonpregnant counterparts. In this Review, we discuss the potential contributions of maternal, placental, and fetal viral infection to pregnancy outcome, fetal development, and maternal well-being.
DOI: 10.1172/jci87490
Authors: Karen Racicot, Gil Mor
Institutions: Michigan State University, Yale University
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: Yale University, National Institutes of Health, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Institute for Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Yale University, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Awards: NovaSeq Shared Instrumentation Grant for Wayne State University, Effect of polymicrobial infection on trophoblast-macrophage interactions, Prenatal Exposures and Child Health Outcomes 2: Increasing ECHO Urban and Rural Diversity, Prenatal Exposures and Child Health Outcomes 2: A Statewide Study of Michigan Families, Yale Clinical and Translational Science Award
OpenAlex ID: W2607615850