Pregnant women have a higher risk of serious COVID-19 disease than women who are not pregnant. COVID-19 during pregnancy increases the risk of premature birth and pre-eclampsia. Therefore, understanding the pathophysiology of COVID-19 during pregnancy is important to improve the treatment and therapeutic approach of pregnant women with COVID-19.
The Doctors of the 1st Obstetrics – Gynecology Clinic of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Georgios Daskalakis and Marianna Theodora, as well as the Doctors of the Therapeutic Clinic of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Ioannina and Ioannina Dimopoulos (Rector of EKPA) summarizes the results of the recent publication of ValeriaGarcia-Flores and associates in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27745-z).
The researchers analyzed data from 23 pregnant women, 12 of whom were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Among them, 8 were asymptomatic, one had mild symptoms and 3 had severe COVID-19 disease. After delivery, the researchers compared the immune response between mothers and newborns by studying blood samples. Overall, inflammatory immune responses were observed in both mothers and newborns and in placental tissue.
More specifically, pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 had reduced T-cell titers, which are involved in the body’s immune response to viruses. Mothers who had COVID-19 during pregnancy developed antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 regardless of the presence of symptoms. In some of them, antibodies were also detected in the umbilical cord blood.
In addition, mothers with COVID-19 in pregnancy had elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines in their blood (interleukin 8, interleukin 15, interleukin 10) regardless of the presence of COVID-19 symptoms. Newborns born to mothers with COVID-19 had elevated inflammatory cytokine levels (interleukin 8) regardless of the presence of symptoms in the mothers and although the newborns were not diagnosed with COVID-19.
In addition, the placentas of mothers with COVID-19 had impaired immune cell titers although the SARS-CoV-2 virus was not detected in the placenta. These findings show that the newborn’s immune system is affected by COVID-19 infection in the mother even if the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not detected in the placenta. The researchers conclude that the effects of inflammation on the fetus need further study in the long run.
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