Immunology of Pregnancy

Book Description

Reproductive Immunology is a growing area in both immunology and
reproductive sciences and is helping us to better understand several
complications of pregnancy. Immunology of Pregnancy is the first book
to give a complete and up to date review of our knowledge related to
the role of the immune system during pregnancy and the interactions
between the placenta and the maternal immune system. This new title
covers in detail all the different hypotheses and studies related to
the immunology of implantation and provide a practical approach for
the application of basic reproductive immunology research to
pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, pre-term labor and
IUGR.


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Contents

Immunology of implantation : an introduction 1
1 Evolution of the mammalian reproductive tract and placentation 7
2 Toll-like receptors and pregnancy 15
3 IL-10 and pregnancy 26
4 Th1/Th2 balance of the implantation site in humans 37
5 The regulation of human trophoblast apoptosis and survival during
pregnancy 49
6 Macrophages and pregnancy 63
7 Potential role of glucocorticoids in the pathophysiology of
intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) 73
8 NK cells and pregnancy 84
9 The role of corticoptropin-releasing hormone (CRH) on implication
and immunotolerance of the fetus 96
10 Indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase-dependent T cell suppression and
pregnancy 101
11 Leukemia inhibitory factor in reproduction 109
12 Characterization of human dendritic cells at the materno-fetal
interface 122
13 MHC molecules of the preimplantation embryo and trophoblast 130
14 Actions of seminal plasma cytokines in priming female reproductive
tract receptivity for embryo implantation 148
15 B7 family molecules in the placenta 159
16 The role of regulatory T cells in materno-fetal tolerance 171
17 The eutherian fetoembryonic defense system hypothesis : an update
179
18 The nature and role of the decidual T cells 195
19 Trophoblast cells as immune regulators 215
20 Inherited thrombophilias and early pregnancy loss 229
21 Bi-directional cell trafficking during pregnancy : long-term
consequences for human health 244
22 Term and preterm parturition 253
23 Interleukin-1 and implantation 294
24 Immunology and pregnancy losses : HLA, autoantibodies and cellular
immunity 303