Edwards A K, Wessels J M, Kerr A, Tayade C
Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Reprod Domest Anim. 2012 Aug;47 Suppl 4:394-401. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0531.2012.02103.x.
Prenatal mortality remains one of the major constraints for the commercial pig industry in North America. Twenty to thirty per cent of the conceptuses are lost early in gestation and an additional 10-15% is lost by mid-to-late gestation. Research over the last two decades has provided critical insights into how uterine capacity, placental efficiency, genetics, environment, nutrition and immune mechanisms impact successful conceptus growth; however, the exact cause and effect relationship in the context of foetal loss has yet to be determined. Similar to other mammalian species such as the human, mouse, rat, and primates, immune cell enrichment occurs at the porcine maternal-foetal interface during the window of conceptus attachment. However, unlike other species, immune cells are solely recruited by conceptus-derived signals. As pigs have epitheliochorial placentae where maternal and foetal tissue layers are separate, it provides an ideal model to study immune cell interactions with foetal trophoblasts. Our research is focused on the immune-angiogenesis axis during porcine pregnancy. It is well established that immune cells are recruited to the maternal-foetal interface, but their pregnancy specific functions and how the local milieu affects angiogenesis and inflammation at the site of foetal arrest remain unknown. Through a better understanding of how immune cells modulate crosstalk between the conceptus and the mother, it might be possible to therapeutically target immune cells and/or their products to reduce foetal loss. In this review, we provide evidence from the literature and from our own work into the immunological factors associated with porcine foetal loss.
产前死亡率仍然是北美商业养猪业的主要制约因素之一。20%至30%的孕体在妊娠早期丢失，另有10%-15%在妊娠中后期丢失。过去二十年的研究为子宫容量、胎盘效率、遗传学、环境、营养和免疫机制如何影响孕体的成功生长提供了关键见解；然而，在胎儿丢失的背景下，确切的因果关系尚未确定。与人类、小鼠、大鼠和灵长类等其他哺乳动物物种类似，在孕体着床窗口期，猪的母胎界面会出现免疫细胞富集。然而，与其他物种不同的是，免疫细胞完全是由孕体衍生的信号招募的。由于猪具有上皮绒毛膜胎盘，母体和胎儿组织层是分开的，这为研究免疫细胞与胎儿滋养层细胞的相互作用提供了理想模型。我们的研究重点是猪妊娠期间的免疫-血管生成轴。众所周知，免疫细胞会被招募到母胎界面，但它们在妊娠中的特定功能以及局部环境如何影响胎儿着床部位的血管生成和炎症仍然未知。通过更好地理解免疫细胞如何调节孕体与母体之间的串扰，有可能通过治疗性靶向免疫细胞和/或其产物来减少胎儿丢失。在这篇综述中，我们提供了来自文献和我们自己工作的证据，以说明与猪胎儿丢失相关的免疫因素。
