Umbilical cord CD71+ erythroid cells are reduced in neonates born to women in spontaneous preterm labor.
Preterm neonates are highly susceptible to infection. Neonatal host defense against infection seems to be maintained by the temporal presence of immunosuppressive CD71+ erythroid cells. The aim of this study was to investigate whether umbilical cord CD71+ erythroid cells are reduced in neonates born to women who undergo spontaneous preterm labor/birth.



Umbilical cord blood samples (n=155) were collected from neonates born to women who delivered preterm with (n=39) and without (n=12) spontaneous labor or at term with (n=82) and without (n=22) spontaneous labor. Time-matched maternal peripheral blood samples were also included (n=111). Mononuclear cells were isolated from these samples, and CD71+ erythroid cells were identified and quantified as CD3-CD235a+CD71+ cells by flow cytometry.



(i) The proportion of CD71+ erythroid cells was 50-fold higher in cord blood than in maternal blood; (ii) a reduced number and frequency of umbilical cord CD71+ erythroid cells were found in neonates born to women who underwent spontaneous preterm labor compared to those born to women who delivered preterm without labor; (iii) umbilical cord CD71+ erythroid cells were fewer in neonates born to term pregnancies, regardless of the process of labor, than in those born to women who delivered preterm without labor; and (iv) no differences were seen in umbilical cord CD71+ erythroid cells between neonates born to women who underwent spontaneous preterm labor and those born to women who delivered at term with labor.



Umbilical cord CD71+ erythroid cells are reduced in neonates born to women who had undergone spontaneous preterm labor.
Perinatology Research Branch, Program for Perinatal Research and Obstetrics, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Bethesda, MD, and Detroit, MI, USA. nardhy.gomez-lopez@wayne.edu.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA. nardhy.gomez-lopez@wayne.edu.|Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA. nardhy.gomez-lopez@wayne.edu.
Nardhy
N
Gomez-Lopez
Perinatology Research Branch, Program for Perinatal Research and Obstetrics, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Bethesda, MD, and Detroit, MI, USA. romeror@mail.nih.gov.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. romeror@mail.nih.gov.|Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA. romeror@mail.nih.gov.|Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA. romeror@mail.nih.gov.
Roberto
R
Romero
Perinatology Research Branch, Program for Perinatal Research and Obstetrics, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Bethesda, MD, and Detroit, MI, USA.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA.
Yi
Y
Xu
Perinatology Research Branch, Program for Perinatal Research and Obstetrics, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Bethesda, MD, and Detroit, MI, USA.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA.|Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA.
Derek
D
Miller
Perinatology Research Branch, Program for Perinatal Research and Obstetrics, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Bethesda, MD, and Detroit, MI, USA.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA.
Ronald
R
Unkel
Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and the Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Tippi
T
C MacKenzie
Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and the Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Michela
M
Frascoli
Perinatology Research Branch, Program for Perinatal Research and Obstetrics, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Bethesda, MD, and Detroit, MI, USA.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA.
Sonia S
SS
Hassan
D000328:Adult; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism; D002469:Cell Separation; D041905:Erythroid Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin / Q000378:metabolism; D047929:Term Birth; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
D015703:Antigens, CD; C068126:CD71 antigen; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin
cord blood; immunosuppression; neonates; parturition; placenta; pregnancy