Immune modulators of implantation and placental development - A workshop report

Abstract

These workshop proceedings highlight several unique features of the immune response to pregnancy. Take home messages emerging from the work presented are that (1) while some aspects of the immune response are dampened in pregnancy, measures of systemic inflammatory status are enhanced and consistent with maternal priming to placental apoptotic debris; (2) cytokine superfamily members with functions quite distinct to their well-established activities in the immune system are prominent in the placenta, and (3) effectors from both the innate and adaptive immune compartments are important in accommodating the allogeneic conceptus, and considerable cross-regulatory interaction between the two com..