Even a brief exposure to air pollution can alter the structure of the placenta and push organs into inflammatory states, recent laboratory studies have found.
Scientists already knew that particles found in air pollution would reach the placenta and be taken up by immune cells there.
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New research added to this understanding by zooming in on special immune cells in the placenta (called Hofbauer cells) to see how their function changed after exposure to compounds discovered in actual air pollution.
“I think this is an important step in closing the gap between what we know from epidemiological research,” Grigg said.
These studies pointed to a link between exposure to contaminants during pregnancy and the risk of presymptomatic presymptom, for example, presymptom of precoagulant. Pre-salpsis is linked to low organ oxygen due to insufficient blood flow to the placenta. Some researchers have argued that placental dysfunction is the root of pre-lammosis, but not everyone agrees as a point of the maternal cardiovascular system instead. However, nonetheless, the placenta is considered to be an important factor in disease.
The recent study, published online in the Journal of Environmental Sciences in March, will also be held in the February 2026 print issue of the journal. We used what is known as “ex vivo dual placental perfusion.” This means that scientists collected the placenta for the entire period from volunteers who donated at birth, via caesarean section or vaginal delivery. Overall, 13 healthy placentas were donated.
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“You can’t actually expose women to air pollution as an experiment,” Dr. Stefan Hansson, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and a senior consultant in obstetrics at Lund University in Sweden, told Live Science. “So the best model is the placental perfusion system we used.”
After birth, the placenta is connected to an artificial perfusion system that mimics elements of the female reproductive system. “Within 30 minutes, you’ll connect it to the artificial uterus and uterus,” Hansson explained. The tube connected to one side of the placenta represents the maternal circulation system, while the other tube represents the umbilical cord that connects to the fetus.
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The tube supplies nutrients and oxygen to the placenta, maintaining its health for about six hours, mimicking both the mother and fetus of the organ. Meanwhile, scientists can monitor organ metabolism, homeostasis, blood pressure levels, and immune cell behavior.
“That’s good in the sense that it covers more complex interactions between cells, how fluids and particles move through the cells,” Grigg said. In comparison, studying individual placental cells in lab dishes is undoubtedly unrealistic.
The researchers then introduced air pollutants into the system to see what happened. Six placentas were left exposed to contamination to function as a comparison. Five people were exposed to contamination for five hours. One was exposed for 60 minutes. One was exposed for 30 minutes. Tissue and fluid were sampled from the system before, during and after these perfusions.
The pollutants themselves were drawn from previous sampling of air pollution in Malmö, Sweden in the spring of 2017. Samples were collected at street intersections with an average annual traffic density of approximately 28,000 vehicles. The team focused on “fine” particulate matter, or PM2.5, containing particles less than 2.5 micrometers.
At that point, Grigg told Live Science that “the concentration of particles used in the perfusate is almost certainly much higher than the very small concentrations around the body, based on previous research.” So there are questions about whether the doses tested closely reflect real life. “I think that’s probably a valid limit for this,” he said.
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Nevertheless, at the concentrations tested, the contaminants had a distinct effect on the placenta. Even after exposure for just 30 minutes, the placenta showed distinct changes in collagen, a structural protein that helps tissue organization. Collagen was loosely “destroyed” compared to the densely organized collagen of exposed tissue.
The team also said after an hour of exposure, the placenta began to produce more human chorionic gonadotropins (HCG). However, studies suggest that high levels of hormones in the late pregnancy are associated with a higher risk of pre-lampsia. New research suggests that air pollution could be a factor that raises HCG levels, but we need to review the idea.
Meanwhile, Hofbauer cells in the exposed placenta had a “viable, activated appearance” and had shifted to an inflammatory state. In healthy placentas, cells are usually biased towards anti-inflammatory conditions, but in the context of pre-lamping disease, they tend to move in other directions, the researchers noted in the report.
“Of course, this is an artificial setup, exposed for several hours,” Hanson pointed out. You can speculate that in pregnancy during pregnancy, these harmful effects can accumulate. However, at present, placental perfusion systems cannot directly capture the effects of such long-term exposures. It is also found only in the placentas for the entire period, not in the early stages of development.
But “If it’s happening all the time, it’s going to be clinically relevant,” Grigg said.
The results suggest that if inflammation driven by Hofbauer cells can suppress the drug, it may help to dispel one factor that contributes to prelammy in contaminated areas, Hanson suggested. However, the idea should be tested in a trial, and inflammation is not the only feature of prelammy.
Additionally, a more effective intervention is to reduce particulate matter in the air, Grigg said. “We should reduce exposure to PM2.5. No further information is needed about that. [to justify taking action]He said.
Grigg also warned that new outcomes do not necessarily point to the precautions individual pregnant people should take.
“Well, pregnant women have to do something different to protect themselves,” he said. “There’s plenty to do, rather than thinking about how pregnant women move around town.”
This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide medical advice.
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