COVID-19 can affect pregnant women by altering the metabolic environment, iron metabolism, and oxygen supply of placental cells, thereby negatively influencing essential mechanisms of fetal development. This is demonstrated by an investigation led by the University of Granada together with the Virgen de las Nieves Maternal and Child hospitals, San Cecilio University Clinic and Virgen de la Arrixaca de Murcia, which has been published in Antioxidants.
The purpose of this study has been to investigate, for the first time, the effects of COVID-19 infection during pregnancy, regarding the oxidative/antioxidant status in the pregnant mother and the human placenta, also analyzing placental iron metabolism.
In this sense, the placenta acts as an active interface between the maternal and fetal circulations, regulating maternal physiological changes and maintaining fetal homeostasis by performing a wide range of physiological functions. It therefore plays a key role in various pregnancy complications.
The study suggests an association between COVID-19, altered placental iron metabolism, and oxidative stress. Infection with COVID-19 during pregnancy can have post-infection consequences. The overproduction of free radicals and the deterioration in the antioxidant system could accelerate the premature aging of the placenta, inhibiting cell proliferation in it. COVID-19 also induces protein, lipid, and DNA damage in trophoblasts (placental cells).
The overproduction of free radicals and the deterioration in the antioxidant system could accelerate the premature aging of the placenta
The research team has observed an increase in vitamins D, E and coenzyme Q10 in the placenta, as a result of increased uptake by placental cells to cope with oxidative stress related to viral infection. The results have not shown differences in the antioxidant capacity of the placenta. However, total antioxidant capacity did decrease in the plasma of mothers with COVID-19. Vitamins D, E and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) showed an increase in the COVID-19 group, but no differences were found in β-carotene. Regarding proteins related to iron metabolism, placental divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1), ferroportin 1 (FPN1), and ferritin expression were upregulated in women infected with SARS-CoV-2 in comparison with healthy women.
The main researchers of this work are Julio J. Ochoa Herrera, Javier DÃaz Castro and Jorge Moreno Fernández, all of them from the Physiology Department of the UGR. The study has the participation of researchers from the Virgen de las Nieves Maternal and Child Hospital (responsible, MarÃa Paz Carrillo Badillo), the San Cecilio Clinical University Hospital (responsible, Africa Caño Aguilar) and the Virgen de la Arrixaca Hospital in Murcia (responsible, Catalina de Paco Matallana).
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