ArticlePathogens (Basel, Switzerland)2021
Molecular Pathology Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in Syncytiotrophoblast and Hofbauer Cells in Placenta from a Pregnant Woman and Fetus with COVID-19.
Article in Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fetoplacental transmission and placental response to SARS-CoV-2: Evidence from the literature.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Placental histopathology after SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.American journal of obstetrics & gynecology MFM · 2021Pooled it
- Evolutionary co-option of endogenous retroviruses: syncytins as regulators of placental development and disease.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Detection of spike protein in term placentas of COVID-19 vaccinated and/or SARS-CoV-2 infected women.PloS one · 2026Article
- 3D multiscale characterization of the human placenta: Bridging anatomy and histology by X-ray phase-contrast tomography.PNAS nexus · 2025Article
- In Situ Analyses of Placental Inflammatory Response to SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Cases of Mother-Fetus Vertical Transmission.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy on the placenta and fetus.Seminars in perinatology · 2024Review
- Combining RNAscope, Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Digital Image Analysis to Assess Podoplanin (PDPN) Protein and PDPN_mRNA Expression on Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Normal Human Placenta Tissues.Current issues in molecular biology · 2024Article
- Causes and Effects of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Pregnant Women and its Association with Adverse Maternal, Placental, and Perinatal Outcomes.The Yale journal of biology and medicine · 2024Review
- Endocytosis at the maternal-fetal interface: balancing nutrient transport and pathogen defense.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- A placental model of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals ACE2-dependent susceptibility and differentiation impairment in syncytiotrophoblasts.Nature cell biology · 2023Article
- Outcome of Newborns with Confirmed or Possible SARS-CoV-2 Vertical Infection-A Scoping Review.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The Innate Defense in the Zika-Infected Placenta.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
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- Pathological involvement of placenta in COVID-19: a systematic review.Le infezioni in medicina · 2022Review
- SARS-CoV-2 can infect and propagate in human placenta explants.Cell reports. Medicine · 2021Article
- Placental Macrophage (Hofbauer Cell) Responses to Infection During Pregnancy: A Systematic Scoping Review.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A small number of neonates delivered to women with SARS-CoV-2 infection have been found to become infected through intrauterine transplacental transmission. These cases are associated with a group of unusual placental pathology abnormalities that include chronic histiocytic intervillositis, syncytiotrophoblast necrosis, and positivity of the syncytiotrophoblast for SARS-CoV-2 antigen or RNA. Hofbauer cells constitute a heterogeneous group of immunologically active macrophages that have been involved in transplacental infections that include such viral agents as Zika virus and human immunodeficiency virus. The role of Hofbauer cells in placental infection with SARS-CoV-2 and maternal-fetal transmission is unknown. This study uses molecular pathology techniques to evaluate the placenta from a neonate infected with SARS-CoV-2 via the transplacental route to determine whether Hofbauer cells have evidence of infection. We found that the placenta had chronic histiocytic intervillositis and syncytiotrophoblast necrosis, with the syncytiotrophoblast demonstrating intense positive staining for SARS-CoV-2. Immunohistochemistry using the macrophage marker CD163, SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein, and double staining for SARS-CoV-2 with RNAscope and anti-CD163 antibody, revealed that no demonstrable virus could be identified within Hofbauer cells, despite these cells closely approaching the basement membrane zone of the infected trophoblast. Unlike some other viruses, there was no evidence from this transmitting placenta for infection of Hofbauer cells with SARS-CoV-2.
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