Cutting Edge: Fetal/Placental Type I IFN Can Affect Maternal Survival and Fetal Viral Load during Viral Infection

Pregnant women have greater mortality and complications associated with viral infections compared with the general population, but the reason for the increased susceptibility is not well defined. Placenta type I IFN is an important immune modulator and protects the pregnancy. We hypothesized that loss of placental IFN affects the regulation of the maternal immune system, resulting in the differential response to infections observed in pregnancy. Pregnant mice lacking the IFN-alpha/b receptor (IFNAR) became viremic and had higher mortality compared with nonpregnant animals. Notably, an embryo with functional IFN signaling alone was sufficient to rescue the pregnant IFNAR(-/-) dam from virus-associated demise. Placental IFN was also an important regulator of viral replication in placental tissue and significantly affected viral transmission to the fetus. These findings highlight the role of fetal/placental IFN in the modulation of viral infection in the mother and fetus.