$3 Million Investment to Analyze SARS-CoV-2 Risk on Placenta Biology and Baby Brain Developmental Trajectory
Scientists are trying to understand how infection with SARS-CoV-2 from the mother affects the baby’s brain development during pregnancy, including in the study the analysis of the risks of neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. The Lieber Institute for Brain Development has announced that, in collaboration with two other medical institutions, it has received a $3 million grant by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, to conduct a five-year study of the matter. Scientists will study the relationship between maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection and infant brain development, assessing whether the relationship is mediated by changes in placental biology and activation of the mother’s immune system. Furthermore, the possible effects of SARS-CoV-2 among female and male children and in the offspring of vaccinated and unvaccinated mothers will be analysed. Pregnant women with symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections are more likely to have preterm delivery, abnormalities in the placenta, and prenatal and perinatal complications such as preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction. All of these complications have been found to increase the lifetime risk of neurodevelopmental disorders.
The project will involve 500 pairs of mothers and children from Northern Virginia, half of them symptomatic with SARS-CoV-2 infection and half asymptomatic. The team will use laser microdissection technology to harvest specific cells from the placenta for protein analysis and for use by researchers at the Lieber Institute for Brain Development for genomic testing and RNA sequencing. Dr. Gianluca Ursini, principal investigator of the project, said he expects to turn the findings into clinical interventions to help women exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and their babies as soon as possible. Also, Dr. Ursini said the results of this study could help understandand the mechanism by which other infectious and non-infectious exposures during pregnancy pose a threat to the developing brain.
