Maternal infection and altered fetal immune programming 2105

Abstract Description The maternal-fetal interface involves complex and balanced interactions between mother and fetus, which support the development of the fetal immune system. While we know maternal helminth infection during pregnancy is known to disrupt this relationship and affect neonatal immune development, the fundamental mechanisms that drive fetal immune programming are not completely understood. To further examine how maternal parasitic infection influences offspring immunity, we established a model in which female mice, prior to mating, are infected with the persistent mouse intestinal helminth, Heligmosomoides polygyrus (HP). One week after infection, female mice are mated, and the progeny are aged to adulthood. The offspring are then challenged with influenza virus. Intriguingly, we found that offspring born from mothers with HP infections were less susceptible to influenza challenge than offspring born from uninfected mothers. This data implies that the effects of maternal helminth infection are long-lasting, and potentially involve fetal programming during the early development of the immune system. Topic Categories Immune Mechanisms of Human Disease (HUM)