The Impact of Pregnancy on the Cardiovascular System- Physiological Changes and Their Benefits

Significant alterations happen in the mother’s immune system during gestation to protect her and the fetus from infections while preventing negative immune activity against the growing fetus. Studies have shown increased complement system activity (Abu-Raya et al., 2020). Increased levels of complement proteins indicate an increased level of complement activity. Basophils and eosinophils are not affected during pregnancy. However, there is increased eosinophil degranulation and increased mast cell degranulation (Abu-Raya et al., 2020). Neutrophils kill microbes through phagocytosis. There is an increased production of neutrophils in the first trimester (Abu-Raya et al., 2020). Monocytes also increased during pregnancy. The monocytes are increased due to the increased need for phagocytosis because of placental and fetal cells in the bloodstream (Abu-Raya et al., 2020).

There is a decreased number of T-cells, while anti-inflammatory cytokines increase (Abu-Raya et al., 2020). Antibodies produced by the mother are the major immunity component that protects the baby immediately after birth (Mader & Windelspecht, 2017). Circulating B-cells are reduced during the final trimester, indicating B-cell lymphopenia (Abu-Raya et al., 2020). B-cells are responsible for the maintenance of tolerance at the fetus-maternal interface. B-cell functions also reduce as the pregnancy advances, increasing the risk for infections (Abu-Raya et al., 2020). IgG1 and IgG3 levels increase during gestation (Abu-Raya et al., 2020). T regulatory cells are essential in the regulation rejection of the fetus by maternal cells (Abu-Raya et al., 2020). T regulatory cells are higher during pregnancy to ensure that maternal cells do not attack allogenic cells.

In conclusion, studies have indicated that there are immunological adaptions during pregnancy. Even though studies show conflicting results, it is obvious that there is an increase in immune cells and cytokines to ensure that the mother and fetus are protected from disease-causing microorganisms.

References

Abu-Raya, B., Michalski, C., Sadarangani, M., & Lavoie, P. M. (2020). Maternal immunological adaptation during normal pregnancy. Frontiers in Immunology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.575197

Mader, S., & Windelspecht, M. (2017). Human biology. McGraw-Hill Education