Evidence of maternal-fetal transmission of Parachlamydia acanthamoebae.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Baud D
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2660709 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:While SARS-CoV-2 infection has spread rapidly worldwide, data remains scarce about the natural history of infection in pregnant women and the risk of mother-to-fetal transmission. Current data indicates that viral RNA levels in maternal blood are low and there is no evidence of placental infection with SARS-CoV-2. Published reports to date suggest that perinatal transmission of SARSCoV- 2 can occur but is rare. Among 179 newborns tested for SARS-CoV2 at birth from mothers with COVID-19, transmission was suspected in 8 cases, 5 with positive nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR and 3 with SARS-CoV-2 IgM. However, these cases arise from maternal infection close to childbirth and there are no information about exposition during first or second trimester of pregnancy. Welldesigned prospective cohort studies with rigorous judgement criteria are needed to determine the incidence and risk factors for perinatal transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
| S-EPMC7233246 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Infection with Zika virus (ZIKV) is associated with human congenital fetal anomalies. To model fetal outcomes in nonhuman primates, we administered Asian-lineage ZIKV subcutaneously to four pregnant rhesus macaques. While non-pregnant animals in a previous study contemporary with the current report clear viremia within 10-12 days, maternal viremia was prolonged in 3 of 4 pregnancies. Fetal head growth velocity in the last month of gestation determined by ultrasound assessment of head circumference was decreased in comparison with biparietal diameter and femur length within each fetus, both within normal range. ZIKV RNA was detected in tissues from all four fetuses at term cesarean section. In all pregnancies, neutrophilic infiltration was present at the maternal-fetal interface (decidua, placenta, fetal membranes), in various fetal tissues, and in fetal retina, choroid, and optic nerve (first trimester infection only). Consistent vertical transmission in this primate model may provide a platform to assess risk factors and test therapeutic interventions for interruption of fetal infection. The results may also suggest that maternal-fetal ZIKV transmission in human pregnancy may be more frequent than currently appreciated.
| S-EPMC5444831 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundIntermittent preventive treatment (IPT), the main strategy to prevent malaria and reduce anaemia and low birthweight, focuses on the second half of pregnancy. However, intrauterine growth restriction may occur earlier in pregnancy. The aim of this study was to measure the effects of malaria in the first half of pregnancy by comparing the fetal biparietal diameter (BPD) of infected and uninfected women whose pregnancies had been accurately dated by crown rump length (CRL) before 14 weeks of gestation.Methodology/principal findingsIn 3,779 women living on the Thai-Myanmar border who delivered a normal singleton live born baby between 2001-10 and who had gestational age estimated by CRL measurement <14 weeks, the observed and expected BPD z-scores (<24 weeks) in pregnancies that were (n = 336) and were not (n = 3,443) complicated by malaria between the two scans were compared. The mean (standard deviation) fetal BPD z-scores in women with Plasmodium (P) falciparum and/or P.vivax malaria infections were significantly lower than in non-infected pregnancies; -0.57 (1.13) versus -0.10 (1.17), p<0.001. Even a single or an asymptomatic malaria episode resulted in a significantly lower z-score. Fetal female sex (p<0.001) and low body mass index (p = 0.01) were also independently associated with a smaller BPD in multivariate analysis.Conclusions/significanceDespite early treatment in all positive women, one or more (a)symptomatic P.falciparum or P.vivax malaria infections in the first half of pregnancy result in a smaller than expected mid-trimester fetal head diameter. Strategies to prevent malaria in pregnancy should include early pregnancy.
| S-EPMC3276538 | biostudies-literature
Project description:AIM:To determine whether HBV with the same characteristics causes dissimilar mutations in different hosts. METHODS:Full-length HBV genome was amplified and linked with pMD T18 vector. Positive clones were selected by double-restriction endonuclease digestion (EcoRI and HindIII) and PCR. Twenty seven clones were randomly selected from an asymptomatic mother [at two time points: 602 (1 d) and 6022 (6 mo)] and her son [602 (S)], and the phylogenetic and mutational analysis was performed using BioEditor, Clustal X and MEGA software. Potential immune epitopes were determined by the Stabilized Matrix Method (SMM), SMM-Align Method and Emini Surface Accessibility Prediction. RESULTS:All of the 27 sequences were genotype C, the divergence between the mother and son was 0%-0.8%. Compared with another 50 complete sequences of genotype C, the mother and her son each had 13 specific nucleotides that differed from the other genotype C isolates. AA 1-11 deletion in preS1 was the dominant mutation in the mother (14/18). The 1762T/1764A double mutation existed in all clones of the mother, 3 of them were also coupled with G1896A mutation, but none were found in the son. 17 bp deletion starting at nucleotide 2330 was the major mutation (5/9) in the son, which caused seven potential HLA class I epitopes and one B cell epitope deletion, and produced a presumptive new start codon, downstream from the original one of the P gene. CONCLUSION:The HBV strain in the son came from his mother, and discrepant mutation occurred in the mother and her son during infection.
| S-EPMC2748201 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The emergence of microRNA as regulators of organogenesis and tissue differentiation has stimulated interest in the ablation of microRNA expression and function during discrete periods of development. To this end, inducible, conditional modulation of microRNA expression with doxycycline-based tetracycline-controlled transactivator and tamoxifen-based estrogen receptor systems has found widespread use. However, the induction agents and components of genome recombination systems negatively impact pregnancy, parturition, and postnatal development; thereby limiting the use of these technologies between late gestation and the early postnatal period. MicroRNA inhibitor (antimiR) administration also represents a means of neutralizing microRNA function in vitro and in vivo. To date, these studies have used direct (parenteral) administration of antimiRs to experimental animals. As an extension of this approach, an alternative means of regulating microRNA expression and function is described here: the maternal-placental-fetal transmission of antimiRs. When administered to pregnant dams, antimiRs were detected in offspring and resulted in a pronounced and persistent reduction in detectable steady-state free microRNA levels in the heart, kidney, liver, lungs, and brain. This effect was comparable to direct injection of newborn mouse pups with antimiRs, although maternal delivery resulted in fewer off-target effects. Furthermore, depletion of steady-state microRNA levels via the maternal route resulted in concomitant increases in steady-state levels of selected microRNA targets. This novel methodology permits the temporal regulation of microRNA function during late gestation and in neonates, without recourse to conventional approaches that rely on doxycycline and tamoxifen, which may confound studies on developmental processes.
| S-EPMC5959254 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The disease-programming effects of a maternal low-protein (MLP) diet in rat pregnancy have been suggested to be attributable of hyperhomocysteinaemia. The aim of the present study was to determine whether MLP feeding impacted upon maternal and day 20 fetal homocysteine concentrations, with ensuing effects upon oxidant/antioxidant status. Sixty-four pregnant rats were fed either MLP diet or control diet before termination of pregnancy at days 4, 10, 18 or 20 gestation (full-term gestation 22 d). Maternal plasma homocysteine concentrations were similar in control and MLP-fed dams at all points in gestation. Fetal plasma homocysteine was similarly unaffected by MLP feeding at day 20 gestation. Activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase were similar in livers of mothers and fetuses in the two groups. Whilst catalase activity was not influenced by diet in maternal liver, MLP exposure increased catalase activity in fetal liver at day 20. Oxidative injury (protein carbonyl concentration) was lower in the livers of MLP-fed animals at day 18 gestation (P<0.05), but significantly greater at day 20. Hepatic expression of methionine synthase was similar in control and MLP-fed dams at all stages of gestation. Expression of DNA methyltransferase 1 in fetal liver was altered by maternal diet in a sex- and gestational age-specific manner. In conclusion, MLP feeding does not impact upon maternal or fetal homocysteine concentrations prior to day 20 gestation in the rat. There was no evidence of increased oxidative injury in fetal tissue that might explain the long-term programming effects of the diet.
| S-EPMC5152711 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionMaternal perception of fetal movements during pregnancy are reassuring; however, the perception of a reduction in movements are concerning to women and known to be associated with increased odds of late stillbirth. Prior to full term, little evidence exists to provide guidelines on how to proceed unless there is an immediate risk to the fetus. Increased strength of movement is the most commonly reported perception of women through to full term, but perception of movement is also hypothesized to be influenced by fetal size. The study aimed to assess the pattern of maternal perception of strength and frequency of fetal movement by gestation and customized birthweight quartile in ongoing pregnancies. A further aim was to assess the association of stillbirth to perception of fetal movements stratified by customized birthweight quartile.Material and methodsThis analysis was an individual participant data meta-analyses of five case-control studies investigating factors associated with stillbirth. The dataset included 851 cases of women with late stillbirth (>28 weeks' gestation) and 2257 women with ongoing pregnancies who then had a liveborn infant.ResultsThe frequency of prioritized fetal movement from 28 weeks' gestation showed a similar pattern for each quartile of birthweight with increased strength being the predominant perception of fetal movement through to full term. The odds of stillbirth associated with reduced fetal movements was increased in all quartiles of customized birthweight centiles but was notably greater in babies in the lowest two quartiles (Q1: adjusted OR: 9.34, 95% CI: 5.43, 16.06 and Q2: adjusted OR: 6.11, 95% CI: 3.11, 11.99). The decreased odds associated with increased strength of movement was present for all customized birthweight quartiles (adjusted OR range: 0.25-0.56).ConclusionsIncreased strength of fetal movements in late pregnancy is a positive finding irrespective of fetal size. However, reduced fetal movements are associated with stillbirth, and more so when the fetus is small.
| S-EPMC10577624 | biostudies-literature
Project description:New information is emerging concerning the influence of environmental factors (e.g., viruses, pollutants, nutrients) on fetal lung development and the prenatal modulation of cellular and molecular effectors essential to the control of airway function, which may shed new light into the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in childhood. In particular, recent studies have shown that nanosize biological and inorganic particles (e.g., respiratory viruses and pollutants) are able to spread hematogenously across the placenta from mother to offspring and interfere with lung development during critical "windows of opportunity". Furthermore, the nutritional balance of maternal diet during pregnancy can affect postnatal lung structure and function. Adverse prenatal environmental conditions can predispose to increased airway reactivity by inducing aberrant cholinergic innervation of the respiratory tract, enhanced contractility of the airway smooth muscle, and impaired innate immunity. Such changes can persist long after birth and might provide a plausible explanation to the development of chronic airway dysfunction in children, even in the absence of atopic predisposition. Insight into maternal-fetal interactions will contribute to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of highly prevalent diseases like bronchiolitis and asthma, and may lead to more precise preventative and therapeutic strategies, or new indications for existing ones.
| S-EPMC6962526 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has caused a pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is threatening global health. SARS-CoV-2 spreads by air with a transmission rate of up to 15%, but the probability of its maternal-fetal transmission through the placenta is reported to be low at around 3.28%. However, it is still unclear that which tissues and developmental periods hold higher risks and what the underlying molecular mechanisms are. We conducted an integrated analysis of large-scale transcriptome and single-cell sequencing data to investigate the key factors that affect SARS-CoV-2 maternal-fetal transmission as well as the characteristics and effects of them. Our results showed that the abundance of cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) infection-associated factors in the placenta were higher than their primarily infected tissues, while the expression levels of SARS-CoV-2 binding receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2) were similar between lung and placenta. By contrast, an important SARS-CoV-2 infection-associated factor, type II transmembrane serine protease (TMPRSS2), was poorly expressed in placenta. Further scRNA-Seq analysis revealed that ACE2 and TMPRSS2 were co-expressed in very few trophoblastic cells. Interestingly, during the embryonic development stages, the abundance of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 was much higher in multiple embryonic tissues than in the placenta. Based on our present analysis, the intestine in 20th week of embryonic development was at a high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Additionally, we found that during the fetal development, ACE2 and TMPRSS2 were enriched in pathogen infection-associated pathways and may involve in the biological processes related to T-cell activation. In conclusion, our present study suggests that though the placenta provides a good physical barrier against SARS-CoV-2 infection for healthy fetal development, multiple embryonic tissues are under risks of the virus infection, which may be adversely affected once infected prenatally. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance maternal care to prevent the potential impact and harm of SARS-CoV-2 maternal-fetal transmission.
| S-EPMC8828581 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vif gene is conserved among most lentiviruses, suggesting that vif is important for natural infection. To determine whether an intact vif gene is positively selected during mother-to-infant transmission, we analyzed vif sequences from five infected mother-infant pairs following perinatal transmission. The coding potential of the vif open reading frame directly derived from uncultured peripheral blood mononuclear cell DNA was maintained in most of the 78,912 bp sequenced. We found that 123 of the 137 clones analyzed showed an 89.8% frequency of intact vif open reading frames. There was a low degree of heterogeneity of vif genes within mothers, within infants, and between epidemiologically linked mother-infant pairs. The distances between vif sequences were greater in epidemiologically unlinked individuals than in epidemiologically linked mother-infant pairs. Furthermore, the epidemiologically linked mother-infant pair vif sequences displayed similar patterns that were not seen in vif sequences from epidemiologically unlinked individuals. The functional domains, including the two cysteines at positions 114 and 133, a serine phosphorylation site at position 144, and the C-terminal basic amino acids essential for vif protein function, were highly conserved in most of the sequences. Phylogenetic analyses of 137 mother-infant pair vif sequences and 187 other available vif sequences from HIV-1 databases revealed distinct clusters for vif sequences from each mother-infant pair and for other vif sequences. Taken together, these findings suggest that vif plays an important role in HIV-1 infection and replication in mothers and their perinatally infected infants.
| S-EPMC124582 | biostudies-literature