Maternal exposure to ultrafine particles enhances influenza infection during pregnancy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Interactions between air pollution and infectious agents are increasingly recognized and critical to identify, especially to protect vulnerable populations. Pregnancy represents a vulnerable period for influenza infection and air pollution exposure, yet interactions during pregnancy remain unclear. Maternal exposure to ultrafine particles (UFPs, [Formula: see text] 100 nm diameter), a class of particulate matter ubiquitous in urban environments, elicits unique pulmonary immune responses. We hypothesized that UFP exposure during pregnancy would lead to aberrant immune responses to influenza enhancing infection severity.

Results

Building from our well-characterized C57Bl/6N mouse model employing daily gestational UFP exposure from gestational day (GD) 0.5-13.5, we c

SUBMITTER: Drury NL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10106898 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature