Infections with Listeria monocytogenes — a common foodborne pathogen previously shown to incite preterm labor during the third trimester — may contribute to miscarriages in the first trimester of pregnancy, according to a recent study published in the journal mBio.
For the study, a research team gave four pregnant macaques a small portion of whipped cream contaminated with a moderate dose of Listeria bacteria between days 36 and 46 of gestation, which corresponds to approximately week six or seven of a human pregnancy. All four of the primate fetuses died in the womb seven to 13 days after exposure.
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"There was a profound reproductive tract colonization and rapid fetal demise with a first trimester exposure to Listeria," said Ted Golos, PhD, professor of reproductive sciences at the school of veterinary medicine at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, in an emailed release. "Obstetricians will tell you that a number of early pregnancy miscarriages are thought to be due to chromosomal problems, but how many may be due to other causes like infections?"
The research team plans to further investigate what happens to immune cells that are supposed to protect maternal-fetal interface during a bacterial infection.
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