Inflammation in/and pregnancy

Elevated levels of inflammation in pregnancy are known to be associated with adverse birth outcomes, however, pregnancy itself is an inflammatory process, and cytokines interact within complex immunoregulatory networks to coordinate placentation and fetal development. My past work has found that the relative balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines during late pregnancy predicts offspring size at birth, while individual cytokines did not. Elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines relative to anti-inflammatory cytokine levels were associated with reduced newborn birth weight and length. These findings suggest that dynamic maintenance of maternal inflammation via cytokine signaling, not just general inflammation, shapes prenatal development.

I’m now working on applying the inflammatory balance concept to other documented relationships between inflammation, health, and the environment, including the social environment.