Intrauterine infection is a major detriment for maternal-child health and occurs despite local mechanisms that protect the maternal-fetal interface from a wide variety of pathogens. The bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes causes spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, and preterm labor in humans and serves as a model for placental pathogenesis. Given the unique immunological environment of the ...

Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) is a foodborne bacterial pathogen that causes listeriosis, severe infection manifests as bacteremia and meningo-encephalitis mostly in immunocompromised individuals, maternal–fetal infection. A critical pathogenic determinant of Lm relies on its ability to actively cross the intestinal barrier, disseminate systemically blood–brain placental barriers. Here we illustra...

Pregnant women, and their fetal offspring, are uniquely susceptible to Zika virus and other microbial pathogens capable of congenital fetal infection. Unavoidable exposure to Zika virus in endemic areas underscores the need for identifying at-risk individuals, and protecting expecting mothers and their fetal offspring against prenatal infection. Here we show that primary Zika virus asymptomatic...

Although the intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes has an established predilection for disseminated infection during pregnancy that often results in spontaneous abortion or stillbirth, the specific host-pathogen interaction that dictates these disastrous complications remain incompletely defined. Herein, we demonstrate systemic maternal Listeria infection during pregnancy fractures fet...

BACKGROUND Investigation of maternal near-miss is a useful complement to the investigation of maternal mortality with the aim of meeting the United Nations' fifth Millennium Development Goal. The present study was conducted to investigate the frequency of near-miss events, to calculate the mortality index for each event and to compare the socio-demographic and obstetrical data (age, parity, ges...

BACKGROUND To assess the association between maternal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and low birth weight (LBW)/prematurity (PTD), we conducted a meta-analysis of cohort studies of HIV infected and uninfected women. METHODS Several English and Chinese databases were searched (updated to May 2015) to find the studies reporting infant outcomes associated with exposure to maternal ...

Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the leading viral cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities in developed countries. However, CMV seroprevalence and burden of congenital CMV infection are not well defined in China.Cohort of newborns from 5 birthing hospitals in 2 counties of Shandong Province, China, were enrolled from March 2011 to August 2013. Dried blood spots (DBS) ...

Global change can greatly affect plant populations both directly by influencing growing conditions and indirectly by maternal effects on development of offspring. More information is needed on transgenerational effects of global change on plants and their interactions with pathogens. The current study assessed potential maternal effects of atmospheric CO(2) enrichment on performance and disease...

Introduction: The most common clinical complication of pregnancy is preeclampsia, that beside bleeding and infection, it is one of the  three main causes of pregnants maternal death around the world. Several studies suggest that some maternal factors such as prim gravids,elderly pregnancy, some occupations, previous high blood pressure, kidneys diseases, diabetes and some medical other diseases...

The pathogenesis of malaria during pregnancy is not fully Background: understood. A proinflammatory cytokine, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is suggested as a factor involved in the pathogenesis of malaria during pregnancy. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Medani Hospital, Sudan to Methods: investigate MIF levels in placental malaria. Obstetrical and medical characteristic...