RESEARCHERS DEVELOP NEW DRUG TO PREVENT PRETERM BIRTH

Tue 26 January 2021:

The results of a study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) may pave the way for a new medicine delivery system that could reduce the incidence of preterm labor and premature birth by allowing physicians to treat the “fetus as the patient”. The study has been published in the latest issue of the journal Science Advances.

It has long been suspected that preterm labor is triggered by inflammation caused by a sick fetus. A new study by scientists at UTMB has proved the hypothesis by studying several important assumptions about the relationship between the health of a mother and her unborn child.

During the study, the research team cooperated with ILIAS Biologics, a South Korean biotechnology company, to test their bioengineered exosomes as a delivery system for anti-inflammatory medicine directly to the fetus.

Exosomes are natural nanoparticles or vesicles in our bodies, and we have trillions of them. By packaging the medicine inside a bioengineered exosome and injecting it into the mother intravenously, the exosomes travel through the blood system, cross the placental barrier and arrive in the fetus, where they deliver the medicine.

In laboratory tests with mice, there were several steps prior to testing the drug delivery. First, the team said it was important to prove that fetal cells, specifically immune cells, actually migrated through the mother’s body to her uterine tissues as well as to her, which can cause inflammation, the leading cause of preterm labor.

Then, the team used bioengineered exosomes to deliver a special anti-inflammatory medicine, an inhibitor of NF-kB, called super repressor (SR) IkB, which is a protein compound that control DNA replication, production of cytokine, and cells’ maintenance.

The researchers proved that exosomes effectively delivered medicine to the fetus, slowed the migration of fetal immune cells, delayed preterm labor, and improved the fetus’ survival rate.

“Mouse models provided valuable information to help understand the mechanisms often seen in humans. Future studies, including human clinical trials are needed to confirm laboratory results,” said Dr. Ramkumar Menon, professor at the UTMB’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Cell Biology, in a report published on the university’s website.