NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.
Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 2020;131:72-79.
Bacterial chorioamnionitis is an intrauterine infection that occurs during pregnancy and involves the membranes that extend from the placenta to form the sac encasing the amniotic fluid and developing fetus. Chorioamnionitis is most commonly caused by bacteria that likely ascend from the vagina into the gravid uterus and can result in devastating complications such as preterm labor, membrane rupture, fetal stillbirth, or severe infection of the newborn. Surviving babies exposed to chorioamnionitis have an increased risk of lifelong disability. Unfortunately, most chorioamnionitis is clinically silent unless a bad outcome occurs, which compels the need for better diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive approaches. Our lab has a primary interest in defining the early steps in disease pathogenesis of bacterial chorioamnionitis, when microbes first make contact with the fetal membranes. Through team science, we are using organ-on-chip models of human fetal membranes to define host-microbe interactions critical to the development of chorioamnionitis and its complications.
细菌性绒毛膜羊膜炎是一种宫内感染，发生在怀孕期间，涉及从胎盘延伸形成囊状包裹羊水和发育中胎儿的胎膜。绒毛膜羊膜炎最常由可能从阴道上升到妊娠子宫的细菌引起，并可导致严重的并发症，如早产、胎膜破裂、胎儿死产或新生儿严重感染。暴露于绒毛膜羊膜炎的存活婴儿有终身残疾的风险增加。不幸的是，大多数绒毛膜羊膜炎在临床上是无声的，除非出现不良后果，这迫使人们需要更好的诊断、治疗和预防方法。我们的实验室主要关注定义细菌性绒毛膜羊膜炎发病机制的早期步骤，即微生物首次与胎膜接触时。通过团队科学，我们正在使用人类胎膜的器官芯片模型来定义对绒毛膜羊膜炎及其并发症发展至关重要的宿主-微生物相互作用。
