BioCentury
ARTICLE | Preclinical News

Study links FNAIT miscarriages to NK cells

August 11, 2017 10:24 PM UTC

In a paper published in Nature Communications, a team including scientists from St. Michael's Hospital and University of Toronto showed that NK cell activation leads to placental dysfunction and miscarriages in fetal/neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT). The authors suggest that inhibiting NK cells in FNAIT could be used to restore placental function and prevent immune-mediated pregnancy loss.

In a mouse model of FNAIT, the authors found that severe intrauterine growth restriction and fetal death was linked to maternal immune responses to fetal platelet antigens. While uterine NK cells typically decline in number after mid-gestation, the team found elevated levels of uterine NK cells after mid-gestation and observed impaired placental blood flow, perfusion and placental inflammation in the FNAIT model...