Abstracts

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin

Breast-Fed Neonates Show Increased Immune Tolerance Against Maternal Antigens

Authors
Hannah Wood, Richard Powell, Andrew Ewer, Paul Moss, Gergely Toldi

Institution(s)
1 – Department of Neonatology, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS FT
2 – Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham
3 – Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research, University of Birmingham

Introduction
In order to accommodate the developing fetus, a unique symbiosis must be maintained between the maternal and fetal immune systems during pregnancy. Therefore, the maternal immune system is known to be in a suppressed state during pregnancy. We hypothesized that immune suppression in pregnancy may be extended to the neonatal immune system in a bidirectional manner. Our study investigates the interaction of the maternal and neonatal immunological systems by analysing T cell responsiveness in the early postnatal period.

Methods
We collected cord blood (CB) samples from 37 healthy, term neonates delivered by elective Caesarean sections. A pre-delivery maternal peripheral blood sample was also obtained. All neonates were re-sampled for peripheral blood during a home visit at 3 weeks of age. T cells were isolated and mixed lymphocyte reactions (MLRs) were performed over 5 days (CB or neonatal responders versus maternal antigens and vice versa). In a subset of samples, MLRs were also studied following the depletion of CD25+ cells.

Results
Maternal T cells showed an increased response against neonatal antigens at 3 weeks compared to CB antigens. The neonatal T cell response against maternal antigens decreased by 3 weeks of age. However, this decrease was only observed in breast-fed (n=24), but not in exclusively formula-fed (n=13) infants. When CD25+ cells were depleted from the samples, an increase was observed in the response of maternal and neonatal T cells, but not that of CB T cells.

Conclusions
Although there was no evidence to support the original hypothesis of our study, we identified that breast-fed neonates show a decreased T cell response to maternal antigens at 3 weeks of age compared to birth. This decrease appears to be mediated by regulatory T cells and could be due to on-going antigen load via breastmilk and may reflect postnatal immune tolerance towards maternal antigens.

More to explorer

Summer Meeting 2023

29th – 30th June 2023 Bristol Tizard lecture will be given by Prof Caroline Crowther, University of Auckland “Antenatal magnesium sulphate for

Spring Meeting 2023

10th March 2023 The Royal Society of Medicine, London​ 09.30 – 18.00 GMT Register Here Submit Abstract Submission deadline for Spring Meeting

Autumn Meeting 2022

10th November 2022 Hybrid event: in person and online meeting at the Royal Society of Medicine, London Includes the Annual General Meeting

Search by category
Scroll to Top

We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. By browsing this website, you agree to our use of cookies.