How the woman’s immune system adapts to protect the mother and fetus during pregnancy remains a mystery to researchers. In fact, it is still unknown why some spontaneous abortions occur and there are pregnancies that from a medical point of view seemed impossible.
An international research team, led by the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada, has discovered for the first time the importance of a small gland-shaped organ, located behind the sternum, and that it helps prevent miscarriage and diabetes in pregnant women.
The role of ‘thymus’ in pregnancy
The study published in the journal Nature reveals the significant role of this small gland, both in metabolic control and immunity during pregnancy.
Researchers have found that female sex hormones mark important changes in the thymus, a central organ of the immune system, to produce specialized cells called Tregs to cope with the physiological changes that arise in pregnancy.
The researchers also identified Receptor Activator for Nuclear Factor κ B, (RANK), a receptor located in a part of the thymus called the epithelium, as the key molecule behind this mechanism.
Dr Josef Penninger, lead author of the study and professor in the Department of Medical Genetics and director of the Institute of Life Sciences at the University of British Columbia, explains that “we knew that RANK was expressed in the thymus, but its role in thymus was unknown. the pregnancy”.
For her part, Dr. Alexandra Kautzky-Willer, a clinical researcher at the Medical University of Vienna, and co-author of the study, also highlighted the importance of this discovery when it comes to finding new therapies to control gestational diabetes and help the mother and the to the fetus.
Dr. Penninger concludes:
“This research changes our view of the thymus as an active and dynamic organ necessary to safeguard pregnancies.”
Via | University of British Columbia
Photos | iStock
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