Sun Zhexian, Wu Wenjie, Xiang Zezhen, Gao Hansong, Ju Weina, Uhm Cherilyn, Hagemann Ian S, Woodard Pamela K, Zhong Nanbert, Cahill Alison G, Wang Qing, Wang Yong
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, MO USA.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Washington University School of Medicine, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, MO USA.
NPJ Womens Health. 2025;3(1):1. doi: 10.1038/s44294-024-00049-5. Epub 2025 Jan 3.
Besides exchanging nutrients, gases, and wastes, placenta is an intermediary between maternal and fetal immune systems. However, no method exists to safely image and monitor placental inflammation during pregnancy. We customized a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) method, diffusion basis spectrum imaging (DBSI), to measure immune cells in placenta. We validated placental DBSI in simulations and ex-vivo specimens, then applied it to 202 MRI scans from 82 patients whose placentas were classified as non-inflammation ( = 70) or inflammation ( = 12). Our method imaged the 3D distribution of immune cells, revealing significantly greater infiltration in the inflammation placentas from early (2.8% ± 0.7% vs. 4.8% ± 0.65%, < 0.01) to late pregnancy (4.75% ± 0.9% vs. 7.25% ± 2.13%, < 0.01). DBSI detects elevated immune cell infiltration associated with placental inflammation and enables non-invasive imaging of placental inflammation, offering early detection and monitoring throughout pregnancy, facilitating personalized care and potentially improving pregnancy outcomes without ionizing radiation.
胎盘除了进行营养物质、气体和废物的交换外，还是母体和胎儿免疫系统之间的媒介。然而，目前尚无方法能够在孕期安全地成像和监测胎盘炎症。我们定制了一种磁共振成像（MRI）方法，即扩散基谱成像（DBSI），用于测量胎盘中的免疫细胞。我们在模拟和离体标本中验证了胎盘DBSI，然后将其应用于82例患者的202次MRI扫描，这些患者的胎盘被分类为无炎症（n = 70）或有炎症（n = 12）。我们的方法对免疫细胞的三维分布进行了成像，结果显示，从妊娠早期（2.8%±0.7%对4.8%±0.65%，P<0.01）到妊娠晚期（4.75%±0.9%对7.25%±2.13%，P<0.01），有炎症的胎盘免疫细胞浸润明显更多。DBSI能够检测到与胎盘炎症相关的免疫细胞浸润增加，并能够对胎盘炎症进行无创成像，在整个孕期实现早期检测和监测，有助于个性化护理，并有可能在不使用电离辐射的情况下改善妊娠结局。
