By Shu Shu Zheng
Low-dose aspirin may treat influenza-induced blood vessel inflammation, creating better blood flow to the placenta during pregnancy (Front Immunol 2024 Apr 3. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1378610).
Animal studies examined whether the treatment for preeclampsia could be applied to flu infections, and the results, according to the research team, were very promising. Lead researcher Stella Liong, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow at RMIT University, in Melbourne, Australia, said flu infections during pregnancy can resemble preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication that causes inflammation to the aorta and blood vessels. Low-dose aspirin is taken commonly to prevent preeclampsia to reduce inflammation.
The research, led by RMIT University in collaboration with John O’Leary, PhD, a professor at Trinity College Dublin, and Doug Brooks, PhD, a professor at the University of South Australia, found fetuses and placentas from mice with influenza A were smaller than those from uninfected mice. Markers of low oxygen to the blood and poor blood vessel development were also evident in the fetuses.
However, mice treated daily with low-dose aspirin had less inflammation and improved fetal development and offspring survival.
Although low-dose aspirin was already recognized as safe to take during pregnancy, pregnant people should seek medical advice from their doctors before taking new medications, the team advised.
Dr. O’Leary said the research findings had huge implications for pregnancy and seasonal influenza virus infections for pregnant people.
“This study shines a light, for the first time, on the role of vascular inflammation associated with influenza virus and the potential dramatic effect of the disease-modifying drug aspirin, in low dosage, in pregnant women with comorbid influenza,” Dr. O’Leary said.
While there weren’t many studies of the effects of flu infections during pregnancy, project lead Stavros Selemidis, PhD, a professor at RMIT University, said it was clear that pregnancy changed how the body responded to the virus.
Earlier work by Drs. Liong and Selemidis found the flu virus during pregnancy could trigger a damaging hyperactive immune response, causing the virus to spread around the body from the lungs through the blood vessels.
“We used to think the flu virus just stayed in the lungs, but during pregnancy it escapes from the lungs to the rest of the body,” Dr. Selemidis said, which could set up the patient and child for cardiovascular disease later in life.
Vaccination is still the considered the best way to prevent flu infection during pregnancy, but Dr. Selemidis pointed out vaccination rates were generally low in the pregnant population.
Article originally appeared on the RMIT website. It has been edited for style.
