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Inflammation and Diseases during Pregnancy: From Pathogenic Mechanisms to Therapy
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Inflammation and Diseases during Pregnancy: From Pathogenic Mechanisms to Therapy

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 November 2023) | Viewed by 5622

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Robert Garfield

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Ob/Gyn, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ 85721, USA
Interests: obstetrics & gynecology; function of the uterus and cervix; preterm labor/birth
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pre-existing diseases that are not caused by pregnancy may cause pregnancy complications for pregnant women, through creating potential risks or conditions that may develop during pregnancy. Inflammatory processes are also critical to pregnancy, including implantation, early placentation, and delivery. Pregnancy complications can lead to the persistence of abnormal inflammation, which may cause or exacerbate maternal morbidity and adverse fetal outcomes. For example, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, thyroid disease during pregnancy, gestational hypertension, fetal growth restriction, fetal hypoxia, preterm birth, and miscarriage are all associated with abnormal placental systemic and local maternal inflammatory responses. Innate immune cells mediate childbirth by secreting inflammatory mediators, such as chemical cytokines, and immune homeostasis during pregnancy is also regulated by hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone.

We invite contributions of original research papers and up-to-date review articles about inflammation and diseases during pregnancy at basic, pathogenic mechanisms, therapy, and molecular levels for a Special Issue with expert insights and perspectives on molecular advances in the field.

Prof. Dr. Robert Garfield
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • complications of pregnancy

  • preeclampsia
  • gestational diabetes mellitus
  • fetal growth restriction (FGR)
  • thyroid disease in pregnancy
  • placental inflammation
  • gestational hypertension
  • fetal growth restriction
  • fetal hypoxia
  • preterm birth
  • immune
  • hormone
  • cytokines

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 621 KiB  
Communication
Altered Levels of Natural Autoantibodies against Heat Shock Proteins in Pregnant Women with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
by Diána Simon, Szabina Erdő-Bonyár, Katalin Böröcz, Noémi Balázs, Ahmed Badawy, Anna Bajnok, Jasper Nörenberg, Tímea Serény-Litvai, Ákos Várnagy, Kálmán Kovács, Eszter Hantosi, Emese Mezősi, Péter Németh and Tímea Berki
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(3), 1423; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25031423 - 24 Jan 2024
Viewed by 709
Abstract
The function of natural autoantibodies (nAAbs) in maintaining immunological tolerance has been comprehensively explained; however, their function in pregnant patients dealing with autoimmune diseases has not been thoroughly investigated. As Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is the predominant organ-specific autoimmune condition of women of childbearing [...] Read more.
The function of natural autoantibodies (nAAbs) in maintaining immunological tolerance has been comprehensively explained; however, their function in pregnant patients dealing with autoimmune diseases has not been thoroughly investigated. As Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is the predominant organ-specific autoimmune condition of women of childbearing age, this study’s objective was to evaluate IgM and IgG nAAbs targeting mitochondrial citrate synthase (CS) and heat shock proteins (Hsp60 and Hsp70) in women diagnosed with HT who were pregnant (HTP). Serum samples collected from HTP and healthy pregnant (HP) women in the first and third trimesters were tested using in-house-developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Our findings indicate the stability of nAAbs against CS and Hsps throughout the pregnancies of both healthy women and those with HT. However, during both trimesters, HTP patients displayed elevated levels of IgM isotype nAAbs against Hsp60 and Hsp70 compared to HP women, suggesting a regulatory role of IgM nAAbs during the pregnancies of patients with HT. Nonetheless, levels of IgG isotype nAAbs against Hsps were lower solely in the third trimester among HTP patients, resulting in a higher IgM/IgG ratio, which indicates their importance in alterations of the nAAb network during pregnancy in patients with HT. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Inflammation and Diseases during Pregnancy: From Pathogenic Mechanisms to Therapy)
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19 pages, 7892 KiB  
Article
Paradoxical Induction of ALOX15/15B by Cortisol in Human Amnion Fibroblasts: Implications for Inflammatory Responses of the Fetal Membranes at Parturition
by Fan Zhang, Jiang-Wen Lu, Wen-Jia Lei, Meng-Die Li, Fan Pan, Yi-Kai Lin, Wang-Sheng Wang and Kang Sun
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(13), 10881; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241310881 - 29 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1249
Abstract
Inflammation of the fetal membranes is an indispensable event of parturition, with increasing prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) synthesis as one of the ultimate products that prime labor onset. In addition to PGE2, the fetal membranes also boast a large capacity for cortisol regeneration. It [...] Read more.
Inflammation of the fetal membranes is an indispensable event of parturition, with increasing prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) synthesis as one of the ultimate products that prime labor onset. In addition to PGE2, the fetal membranes also boast a large capacity for cortisol regeneration. It is intriguing how increased PGE2 synthesis is achieved in the presence of increasing amounts of classical anti-inflammatory glucocorticoids in the fetal membranes at parturition. 15(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15(S)-HETE) synthesized by lipoxygenase 15/15B (ALOX15/15B) has been shown to enhance inflammation-induced PGE2 synthesis in amnion fibroblasts. Here, we examined whether glucocorticoids could induce ALOX15/15B expression and 15(S)-HETE production to promote PGE2 synthesis in amnion fibroblasts at parturition. We found that cortisol and 15(S)-HETE abundance increased parallelly in the amnion at parturition. Cortisol induced ALOX15/15B expression and 15(S)-HETE production paradoxically in amnion fibroblasts. Mechanism study revealed that this paradoxical induction was mediated by p300-mediated histone acetylation and interaction of glucocorticoid receptor with transcription factors CREB and STAT3. Conclusively, cortisol regenerated in the fetal membranes can paradoxically induce ALOX15/15B expression and 15(S)-HETE production in human amnion fibroblasts, which may further assist in the induction of PGE2 synthesis in the inflammatory responses of the fetal membranes for parturition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Inflammation and Diseases during Pregnancy: From Pathogenic Mechanisms to Therapy)
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14 pages, 8029 KiB  
Article
Murine Placental Erythroid Cells Are Mainly Represented by CD45+ Immunosuppressive Erythroid Cells and Secrete CXCL1, CCL2, CCL3 and CCL4 Chemokines
by Kirill Nazarov, Roman Perik-Zavodskii, Olga Perik-Zavodskaia, Saleh Alrhmoun, Marina Volynets, Julia Shevchenko and Sergey Sennikov
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(9), 8130; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24098130 - 01 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1245
Abstract
Erythroid cells are emerging players in immunological regulation that have recently been shown to play a crucial role in fetomaternal tolerance in mice. In this work, we set ourselves the goal of discovering additional information about the molecular mechanisms of this process. We [...] Read more.
Erythroid cells are emerging players in immunological regulation that have recently been shown to play a crucial role in fetomaternal tolerance in mice. In this work, we set ourselves the goal of discovering additional information about the molecular mechanisms of this process. We used flow cytometry to study placental erythroid cells’ composition and BioPlex for the secretome profiling of 23 cytokines at E12.5 and E19.5 in both allogeneic and syngeneic pregnancies. We found that (1) placental erythroid cells are mainly represented by CD45+ erythroid cells; (2) the secretomes of CD71+ placental erythroid cells differ from the ones in syngeneic pregnancy; (3) CCL2, CCL3, CCL4 and CXCL1 chemokines were secreted on each day of embryonic development and in both types of pregnancy studied. We believe that these chemokines lure placental immune cells towards erythroid cells so that erythroid cells can induce anergy in those immune cells via cell-bound ligands such as PD-L1, enzymes such as ARG1, and secreted factors such as TGFβ-1. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Inflammation and Diseases during Pregnancy: From Pathogenic Mechanisms to Therapy)
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16 pages, 5477 KiB  
Article
Integrated Analysis of DNA Methylation and Gene Expression in Porcine Placental Development
by Baohua Tan, Chen Zhou, Xupeng Zang, Xinming Zhao, Liyao Xiao, Jiekang Zeng, Linjun Hong, Zhenfang Wu and Ting Gu
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(6), 5169; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24065169 - 08 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1852
Abstract
Proper placental development is crucial for the conceptus to grow and survive, because the placenta is responsible for transporting nutrients and oxygen from the pregnant female to the developing fetus. However, the processes of placental morphogenesis and fold formation remain to be fully [...] Read more.
Proper placental development is crucial for the conceptus to grow and survive, because the placenta is responsible for transporting nutrients and oxygen from the pregnant female to the developing fetus. However, the processes of placental morphogenesis and fold formation remain to be fully elucidated. In this study, we used whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and RNA sequencing to produce a global map of DNA methylation and gene expression changes in placentas from Tibetan pig fetuses 21, 28, and 35 days post-coitus. Substantial changes in morphology and histological structures at the uterine–placental interface were revealed via hematoxylin–eosin staining. Transcriptome analysis identified 3959 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and revealed the key transcriptional properties in three stages. The DNA methylation level in the gene promoter was negatively correlated with gene expression. We identified a set of differentially methylated regions associated with placental developmental genes and transcription factors. The decrease in DNA methylation level in the promoter was associated with the transcriptional activation of 699 DEGs that were functionally enriched in cell adhesion and migration, extracellular matrix remodeling, and angiogenesis. Our analysis provides a valuable resource for understanding the mechanisms of DNA methylation in placental development. The methylation status of different genomic regions plays a key role in establishing transcriptional patterns from placental morphogenesis to fold formation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Inflammation and Diseases during Pregnancy: From Pathogenic Mechanisms to Therapy)
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