Fetal Microchimerism: Death By Pregnancy

Fetal Microchimerism, named after the Greek mythology monster, chimera, was first found in 1990 to be a condition where fetal cells can escape from the uterus and freely disperse through the mother's body.  The problem is, is many times Fetal Microchimerism has affected the health of the mother, including death during, or after, pregnancy.  In a recent study at Leiden University Medical Center, a team of pathologists collected tissue samples from 26 different women, who had previously passed away during, or after, pregnancy.  All of them had been carrying sons, making it easier for the pathologists when collecting samples because they could just look for the Y chromosomes in cells. The experiment was successful, in that the pathologists found Y chromosomes in every single tissue sample they had examined.  The chromosomes were even present in every organ sample as well, including the heart, lungs and even the brain.

When fetal cells inhibit such organs, the condition can then become fatal, essentially controlling the mother's biological controls, such as her body temperature.  Meanwhile, some cells can have the complete opposite affect, aiding the mother's health.  It is the fatal cells which we are still puzzled about.  After women give birth, their immune system kicks in, usually riding of most of these fetal cells.  However, if a woman has an autoimmune disease, she could possible relapse, or even die, after or during giving birth.  Also, tumors in women who have given birth before, contain masses of fetal cells, making us believe that these cells might help drive cancer.

I think this is really interesting, especially seeing that this condition, whether fatal or not, is not all that uncommon.  It actually gives some truth to the myth of "pregnancy brain," and I hope that in the near future, we can find a way to make these cells more passive.

Women's Brains Contain Male DNA

According to Medical News Today, the brains of women often contain male DNA, which is most likely acquired from a pregnancy with a male fetus.  Scientists have yet to discover what male DNA and male cells in the brain indicate, but there has been research of other kinds of microchimerism showing a link between the phenomenon to autoimmune diseases and cancer.  Microchimerism is the existence of a small number of cells that emerge from another person, which in turn, makes them genetically different from the cells of the host.  Most commonly, during pregnancy, the genetic material and cells are exchanged between fetus and mother. This form is called fetomaternal microchimerism.  The discovery provides evidence for the probability that fetal cells often cross the human blood-brain barrier, while showing also that microchimerism in the brain is comparatively common.  Brain autopsy specimens from 59 females (26 had no neurological disease and 33 had Alzheimer's disease) who passed away between the ages of 32 and 101 were analyzed by the team.  The scientists detected male microchimerism in 63% of the women, which was spread across several regions of the brain.  A slightly lower prevalence of male microchimerism was seen in the patient's with Alzheimer's, which also appeared in lower concentrations in regions of their brains that were most influenced by the disease.  A link between Alzheimer's disease and the level of male cells of fetal origin can't yet be made, the researchers pointed out, because of the small number of women observed, and their history of pregnancy unknown.