Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40173254›Full record

Trial reportAmerican journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989)2025

Associations of Serum Inflammatory Biomarkers During Pregnancy With Placental Pathology and Placental Gene Expression at Delivery.

Linda M Ernst, Alexa A Freedman, Renee M Odom-Konja, Lauren Keenan-Devlin, Gregory E Miller, Steve Cole, Amy Crockett, Ann Borders

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. First-Trimester Maternal CALLY Index Is Associated With Fetal Growth Restriction.American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Linda M ErnstDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Endeavor Health, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
Alexa A FreedmanDepartment of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9745-7768
Renee M Odom-KonjaDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Endeavor Health, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
Lauren Keenan-DevlinDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Endeavor Health, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
Gregory E MillerDepartment of Psychology and Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
Steve ColeDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, and Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Amy CrockettDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Prisma Health, Greenville, South Carolina, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9630-3716
Ann BordersDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Endeavor Health, Evanston, Illinois, USA.

Funding

The impact of structural racism and discrimination on perinatal health during the COVID-19 pandemicR01HD092446 · NICHD · ENDEAVOR HEALTH CLINICAL OPERATIONS · PI BORDERS, ANN E.B., CROCKETT, AMY HAIRSTON · 2018 to 2022
$3.9M
Placental contributions to disparities in offspring cardiovascular health across the life courseK01HL165038 · NHLBI · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI Alexa Freedman · 2023 to 2026
$524k
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development 1R01HD092446Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human DevelopmentNHLBI NIH HHS 1K01HL165038NHLBI NIH HHS K01 HL165038NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD092446
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

problemWe sought to investigate whether maternal inflammatory cytokines during pregnancy are associated with histologic inflammatory or vascular lesions in the placenta and/or correlated with gene expression patterns in the placenta. METHOD OF STUDY: We leveraged data from a large randomized controlled trial (RCT) at a single site. Maternal serum was collected in the second and third trimesters, and a composite inflammatory score was created using five measured biomarkers (CRP, IL-6, IL-1ra, IL-10, and TNF-α). Placentas were collected at delivery for histological analysis and four major patterns of placental injury were characterized. Fresh small chorionic villous biopsies were collected for placental genome-wide mRNA profiling. Transcripts showing >2-fold differential expression over the 4-SD range of circulating inflammatory biomarkers were reported, adjusting for potential confounders.

resultsThe primary analysis included 601 participants. A one standard deviation increase in the third-trimester inflammatory composite was associated with increased odds of chronic inflammation in the placenta (OR: 1.23, 95% CI 1.01, 1.51;). This was driven primarily by elevations in IL-10 (OR: 1.37; 99% CI: 1.06, 1.77). Higher maternal IL-10 in circulation was associated with bioinformatic indications of reduced pro-inflammatory gene regulation pathways in the placenta (AP1 decreased 25%, p = 0.003; NF-kB decreased 53%, p = 0.003) and indications of increased STAT family signaling pathways which mediate signaling through the IL-10 receptor (increased 73%, p = 0.002).

conclusionsOur results indicate that elevated maternal circulating IL-10 during pregnancy is associated with chronic inflammatory lesions in the placenta at delivery. Additionally, higher levels of circulating IL-10 are associated with upregulated STAT signaling pathways in placental tissues.

Indexed as

InflammationPlacentaAdultBiomarkersCytokinesFemaleHumansPregnancyBiomarkersCytokineschronic placental inflammationcytokinesIL‐10STAT signaling

Identifiers

PMID40173254
PMCPMC11964289

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.