Well, from the United States one more study with quite reassuring results.
COVID-19 and pregnancy, the University of Pennsylvania study
Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in the blood of pregnant women cross the placenta efficiently and were found in similar concentrations in the blood of their newborns, according to a large study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania.
The findings, JAMA Pediatrics reported, suggest that mothers who have had COVID-19, or asymptomatic exposure to the coronavirus, may, through this transfer of antibodies, provide some protection against the virus to their newborns.
The authors hypothesize that this may have implications for COVID-19 vaccines.
The study on 1,471 pregnant women and COVID-19 positive
The researchers analyzed blood samples from 1,471 women and their newborns for the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and found that 83 of the women had significant levels of specific antibodies to SARS-CoV-2.
The vast majority (87 percent) of these women’s newborn babies also had significant levels of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in umbilical cord blood samples collected at birth.
The study found no evidence that the antibodies were due to a fetal infection, indicating that the antibodies likely crossed the placenta from the mother’s blood into the fetal circulation.
COVID-19 antibody transfer during pregnancy “appears to be quite efficient.”
“This handoff appears to be quite efficient,” said study co-lead author Karen Puopolo, MD, PhD, neonatologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, associate professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, and section chief. . in Newborn Medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital.
“In some of the cases, the concentration of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in the newborn’s blood was even higher than that of the mother.”
“Overall, our findings are consistent with what we know about the transfer of antibodies to other viruses via the placenta and should contribute to the discussion of whether and when to vaccinate pregnant women against SARS-CoV-2.” said co-lead author Scott Hensley, PhD, associate professor of microbiology at Penn Medicine and a fellow at the Penn Institute for Immunology.
Smaller earlier studies have also found evidence that maternal antibodies can cross the placenta into the fetal bloodstream. However, the dynamics and efficiency of this transfer have not been clear.
Puopolo and Hensley and their colleagues used a previously validated blood test kit to verify the presence of specific antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in blood serum samples collected at the time of delivery over a four-month period from April to August. last year at the Pennsylvania Hospital. in Philadelphia.
In total, the study covered 1,471 pairs of mother and child samples.
The role of immunoglobulins in fetal protection:
About 6 percent of the women, 83 in all, showed significant levels of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in tests. Of their 83 newborns, 72 (87 percent) also showed significant levels of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2.
The researchers found that the most common class of antibodies in the blood, known as immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies, appeared to transfer easily from the mother’s blood through the placenta.
The anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels detected in the newborns closely followed the levels in their mothers.
However, a class of larger antibodies, known as IgM antibodies, which tend to occur earlier in infection and are not known to cross the placenta, were not detected in any cord blood sample.
Since babies have some ability to produce their own IgM antibodies, the absence of these antibodies also suggested that the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself had not crossed the placenta or infected them.
Among mothers who had anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies but their babies did not, 5 had only IgM antibodies, which were not expected to cross the placenta.
The other 6 had low levels of IgG antibodies. COVID-19 vaccines are generally designed to elicit high levels of IgG antibodies against the virus.
The transport of IgG antibodies across the placenta is known to occur especially in the third trimester of pregnancy, and as time passes, more antibodies cross over.
Scientists also know that an infection with a new virus can take time to elicit a significant antibody response.
The results of Hensley, Puopolo and their colleagues were consistent with these known patterns: placental transfer was greater the longer time elapsed between maternal COVID-19 infection and delivery.
Other co-authors of the study were co-authors Dustin Flannery and Sigrid Gouma; and Miren Dhudasia, Sagori Mukhopadhyay, Madeline Pfeifer, Emily Woodford, Jourdan Triebwasser, Jeffrey Gerber, Jeffrey Morris, Madison Weirick, Christopher McAllister, Marcus Bolton, Claudia Arevalo, Elizabeth Anderson, and Eileen Goodwin.
Funding was provided by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Foerderer Grant for Excellence and the philanthropic support of Philadelphia 76ers star player Joel Embiid and managing partners Josh Harris and David Blitzer, and Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie.
Read also:
Birth and COVID-19, what is the task of midwives in contexts of concern and tension? Some useful tips from Argentina
Health and pregnancy care services in the UK
Maternal and Child Health, Risks Related to Pregnancy in Nigeria
Read the Italian article
Source:
Perelman School of Medicine on the official website of the University of Pennsylvania
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