Maternal cytokines

Lehmann I, Thoelke A, Rehwagen M, Rolle-Kampczyk U, Schlink U, Schulz R, Borte M, Diez U, Herbarth 0 (2002) The influence of maternal exposure to volatile organic compounds on the cytokine secretion profile of neonatal T cells. Environ Toxicol, 17(3) 203-210. 

Wegmann TG, Lin H, Guilbert L, Mosmann TR Bidirectional cytokine interactions in the maternal-fetal relationship Is successful pregnancy a Th2 phenomenon Immunol Today 1993 14 353-356. 

Maternal infection. Mild infection transmitted to the fetus is another source of possible subclinical changes in brain development.24 Clinical and epidemiological studies have shown associations between maternal infection, fetal brain damage, and increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines, a class of regulatory proteins secreted especially by cells of... 

In general, prenatal exposure to infection apparendy increases the risk of later schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental disorders. As discussed previously, the release of proinflamma-tory cytokines during maternal infection may have a damaging impact on fetal brain development.34... 

One of the cytokines whose production is increased early in response to tissue injury and inflammation is tumor necrosis factor alpha, TNF-a." TNF-a is a key mediator in the inflammatory response and increased TNF-a levels can induce genes involved in inflammation including cytokines, chemokines, nitric oxide synthase and adhesion molecules. We have shown that a teratogenic dose of TNF-a elicits an increase in MT synthesis and zinc levels in maternal liver, and a reduction in zinc transport into the mouse embryo, even in instances where the mother is fed a zinc adeqrrate diet." ... 

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