JCI table of contents, 1...( This press release contains summaries o...)

This press release contains summaries of newsworthy papers to be published online on 1 July 2004, in the Journal of Clinical Investigation including: A Pregnant Pause for Unexpected Interactions; Half at the Wrong Time Creates Bad Blood; Cancer Patient, Heal Thyself; PAF-way to Bone Loss; Immunology Link May Make You Lose Your Appetite; and PPAR for the Course. Contact information is included for all authors as well as a directory of other articles appearing in the same issue and papers appearing online first.

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A Pregnant Pause for Unexpected Interactions

Approximately 1-3% of all couples experience recurrent pregnancy loss, and about 5070% of all conceptions fail. The underlying molecular mechanisms causing these heartbreaking conditions, however, remain unknown. Many cases of pregnancy loss are known to due to damage to the fetus through genetic, anatomic, endocrine, or Infectious means. When such causes are ruled out, the other source is thought to be caused by a maternal immune response. Most of the research in this arena has focused on identifying reactions at the maternal-fetal interface in the placenta. Adrian Erlebacher and colleagues, from Harvard School of Public Health, have now, however, identified new means by which maternal immune activation can lead to pregnancy failure. Here, the authors provide a mouse model of early pregnancy loss and present data that unexpectedly links the reproductive hormone secretion system to the immune system. The mouse model shows that when a specific immune cell receptor called CD40 is activated early in pregnancy the resulting inflammatory response caused embryo resorption. The researchers traced the molecular mechanisms underlying this process, and found that the loss of the embryo was not due to fetal damage or activity at the fetal-maternal interface, but rather because the inflammatory response ultimately caused a decrease in progesterone, the hormone responsible for prepar
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Contact: Laurie Goodman
press_releases@the-jci.org
212-342-4159
Journal of Clinical Investigation
1-Jul-2004

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