Funding outcome

The immune system functions as a balancing act between pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators to ensure successful placentation and fetal growth and development. When the balance is tipped so that proinflammatory mediators dominate, such as in an infectious or stressful situation, the result can lead to an adverse pregnancy outcome including preterm birth (PTB) or preeclampsia and lifelong newborn impacts including asthma, vision problems, hearing loss, and delays in learning or physical development. Existing diagnostics for predicting PTB risk are based on poor correlations between blood or tissue biomarkers and not on the biology of PTB; hence they are poor diagnostics. Our approach utilizes the imbalance in the immune system that causes PTB. The imbalance causes white blood cells (WBC) to become activated and migrate out of blood capillaries and into the uterine tissues where they secrete more pro-inflammatory mediators that cause PTB. Our patented PTB diagnostic examines the migration of activated WBC from pregnant women and can predict delivery within 7 days with an amazing 96% accuracy. This summer project will explore improvements in the WBC migration assay to be applied to women at risk of PTB. Further, it will explore the ability of a novel drug that blocks the action of the primary pro-inflammatory mediator, interleukin-1 beta, to restore the balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators and thereby decrease the activation and migration of WBCs, block PTB, prolong normal pregnancy and improve fetal/newborn lifelong health. Longer term, we will commercialize the findings from my study to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies.