Researchers discover how the placenta may be blocking SARS-CoV-
2 transmission to babies during pregnancy
May yield clues on blocking COVID-19 infections in other patients
Date:
February 1, 2022
Source:
Boston University School of Medicine
Summary:
While COVID-19 disease significantly impacts many pregnant women,
the rates of transmission from mother to baby in pregnancy are
very low. A new study has demonstrated that ACE-2, the receptor
that allows SARS-CoV- 2 to enter cells, is found in lower levels
in the placentas of women with COVID-19 in pregnancy compared to
women with normal (COVID negative) pregnancies.
FULL STORY ========================================================================== While COVID-19 disease significantly impacts many pregnant women,
the rates of transmission from mother to baby in pregnancy are very
low. A new study from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) has demonstrated that ACE-2, the receptor that allows SARS-CoV-2 to enter
cells, is found in lower levels in the placentas of women with COVID-19
in pregnancy compared to women with normal (COVID negative) pregnancies.
==========================================================================
"We think that when a woman has COVID-19 in pregnancy, the placenta is
shedding off ACE-2 as a way to block SARS-CoV-2 from being passed to
the fetus," explained co-corresponding author Elizabeth S. Taglauer,
MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at BUSM.
The study is a collaborative effort between placental/perinatal
researchers at BUSM, Boston Medical Center (BMC), Ke Yuan, PhD a lung
vascular biologist at Boston Children's Hospital and Hongpeng Jia, PhD, an ACE-2 expert at Johns Hopkins University. It involved collecting placentas
from two groups of women who delivered at BMC from July 2020-April 2021,
an effort led by study co- author Elisha Wachman, MD, an associate
professor of pediatrics at BUSM and a neonatologist at BMC. The first
group was women who had normal pregnancies and no report of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The second group of women were SARS-CoV- 2 positive and had
active COVID-19 disease during pregnancy. They then observed the ACE-2 expression in their placentas under the microscope and compared placental
ACE-2 expression using genetic and protein analysis techniques.
According to the researchers, the placenta has many similarities with
the lung, so this study also highlights the importance of studying the
placenta to help understand a variety of lung diseases and highlights
the important role of controlling ACE-2 as a way to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections.
"The placenta is one of the few "success stories" of the pandemic. If we understand how the placenta is naturally protecting babies from COVID-19,
this may provide important information for therapies and strategies to
help prevent other SARS-CoV-2 infections from continuing to spread,"
adds Taglauer, a neonatologist at BMC.
These findings appear online in the American Journal of Pathology.
Funding for this research was provided by the Boston University
Clinical and Translational Science Institute COVID-19
Pilot Grant Program, UL1TR001430 (ET,EW) and supported
by research grants from the National Institutes of Health
(R21AI14932, and R01AI148446 to H.J and 5R01HL150106-02 to K.Y.) ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Boston_University_School_of_Medicine. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Elizabeth S. Taglauer, Elisha M. Wachman, Lillian Juttukonda,
Timothy
Klouda, Jiwon Kim, Qiong Wang, Asuka Ishiyama, David J. Hackam,
Ke Yuan, Hongpeng Jia. Acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy is
associated with placental ACE2 shedding.. The American Journal of
Pathology, 2022; DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2021.12.011 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220131153256.htm
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