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Isolation of Leukocytes from the Murine Tissues at the Maternal-Fetal Interface
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Isolation of Leukocytes from the Murine Tissues at the Maternal-Fetal Interface

Published on: May 21, 2015

The influence of pregnancy on systemic immunity

Michael Pazos1, Rhoda S Sperling, Thomas M Moran

  • 1Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1124, New York, NY 10029, USA.

Immunologic Research
|March 27, 2012
PubMed

Adaptations in maternal systemic immunity are presumed to be responsible for observed alterations in disease susceptibility and severity as pregnancy progresses. Epidemiological evidence as well as animal studies have shown that influenza infections are more severe during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, resulting in greater morbidity and mortality, although the reason for this is still unclear. Our laboratory has taken advantage of 20 years of experience studying the murine immune response to respiratory viruses to address questions of altered immunity during pregnancy. With clinical studies and unique animal model systems, we are working to define the mechanisms responsible for altered immune responses to influenza infection during pregnancy and what roles hormones such as estrogen or progesterone play in these alterations.

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