They discover how pregnant women create "superantibodies" to protect the baby

Pregnant women produce 'superantibodies' to protect newborns and now scientists have discovered how they do it, which could open the door to improved treatments against deadly infections.

The study, which describes "a subtle" molecular change that allows the body's most common antibody to take on an expanded protective function, is published in the journal Nature and is led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (Ohio, United States).

But meanwhile, It is one of mothers' most important gifts that keeps their babies safe: antibodies.

Now, this study offers a "surprising" explanation of how those early days of maternally provided immunity actually work, and what that information could mean to prevent mortality and disability from a wide range of ediseases infectious.

The results suggest that the enhanced antibodies produced by pregnant mothers could be imitated to create new drugs to treat diseases, as well as Vaccines improved to prevent them.

The findings show that pregnancy changes the structure of certain sugars attached to antibodies, allowing them to protect babies from infections, explains Sing Sing Way.

The new study identifies which specific sugar changes during pregnancy and how and when the change occurs; specific, There is a change (the loss of an acetyl group) in sialic acid, one of the sugars attached to the antibodies.

This "very subtle" molecular change allows immunoglobulin G (IgG) - the most common type of antibody in the body - to take on an expanded protective function by stimulating immunity through receptors that respond specifically to the modified sugars.

"This change is the switch that allows maternal antibodies to protect babies against infection within cells" says Way. "Mothers always seem to know best," adds John Erickson, another of the authors.

This discovery paves the way for new 'breakthrough therapies' that can specifically target infections in pregnant women and babies newly born.

"I believe these findings will also have far-reaching implications for antibody-based therapies in other fields," Erickson adds.

In this sense, Way affirms that the molecular alteration of antibodies that occurs naturally during pregnancy can reproduce to change the way antibodies stimulate the immune system, and fine-tune its effects.

This could lead - he points out - to improving treatments for infections caused by other intracellular pathogens, such as HIV and respiratory syncytial virus, a common virus that sometimes poses serious risks to babies.

Additionally, the findings underscore the importance of women of reproductive age receiving all available vaccines, as well as the need for Researchers develop even more vaccines against infections that are especially prominent in women during pregnancy or in newborns.

"Immunity has to exist within the mother for it to be transferred to her child," concludes Way.