Maternal Hypercholesterolemia May Involve in Preterm Birth

Jingfei Chen; Lan Hua; Fei Luo; Jianlin Chen

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2022.818202

Maternal Hypercholesterolemia May Involve in Preterm Birth

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022 Jul 11:9:818202. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.818202. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jingfei Chen¹, Lan Hua¹, Fei Luo², Jianlin Chen¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
² Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.

Abstract

Maternal hypercholesterolemia during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth which is defined as <37 weeks of complete gestation. However, the underlying mechanism for the association between hypercholesterolemia and preterm birth is not fully understood. Macrophage, as one of the largest cell types in the placenta, plays a very critical role in mediating inflammation and triggers labor initiation. Here, we hypothesize that macrophages can uptake maternal excessive cholesterol leading to its accumulation, resulting in a breach of the immune tolerance and precipitating labor.

Keywords: cholesterol; inflammation; low-density lipoprotein receptor; macrophage; preterm birth.