The s immune system is one of the most complex and important structures of the organism . Composed of organs, tissues and cells, its main function is to act correctly to fight bacteria or viruses that can cause damage to the human body .
A new study prepared by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) at the Molecular Inflammation Research Center (CEMIR) offers new evidence on how the immune system works During pregnancy.
Specifically, the results of this research work ensure that the immune system of a woman can detect diseases during pregnancy.
The immune system during pregnancy
This research work has been published in the prestigious ' Frontiers in Immunology ', which has analyzed a total of 707 pregnant women, who have subsequently given birth to completely healthy babies.
PregnancyAnders Hagen Jarmund, principal investigator of the study, explains that «our immune system is regulated by cellular signaling molecules called cytokines. Signaling molecules can trigger or stop immune responses. We profile several different cytokines in the blood using a simple blood sample from the mother. Linking measurements of many cytokines at various points in pregnancy gave us an impression of the mother's immune response. ”
Based on this in-depth research work, those responsible for the study have observed that the immune activity of women during normal pregnancies follow a certain pattern, with high immune activation in the first three months of pregnancy.
Then, in the next three months, the immune system enters a calm phase and finally, in the last three months, it returns to a high immune activity; mainly when the delivery of the baby is imminent.
Progress of research in pregnancy
Regarding the evidence observed in the research work, Dr. Jarmund points out that «our study can serve as a reference of what is normal in the different stages of pregnancy. By comparing the analysis of blood samples from the pregnant woman with our survey, we can detect abnormalities very early. ”
In addition, the researchers explain in the study results that they discovered different conditions in the mother or fetus that created abnormalities in the response of the immune system .
On this matter, Dr. Jarmund argues that “the immune changes detected with the cytokine profile are so sensitive that they capture the effects of obesity and smoking in the mother. The immune system is also affected if the fetus is stunted, and it can even indicate whether it is a boy or a girl. ”
In another vein, this research work has also analyzed women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and has compared the blood of 358 women with PCOS and blood samples from women.
Thus, in this situation, researchers have discovered that women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) show greater activation of the immune system during pregnancy compared to healthy women.
