Pregnancy and rheumatoid arthritis: insights into the immunology of fetal tolerance and control of autoimmunity.

Journal Article (Journal Article;Review)

It has long been recognized that symptoms and signs of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) frequently improve spontaneously during pregnancy, only to flare postpartum. Although the mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain poorly understood, there is growing interest in the immunologic changes that occur during healthy pregnancy as a possible explanation. Because the maternal immune system must adapt during pregnancy to accept the semi-allogeneic fetus, it has been hypothesized that these natural changes induced by pregnancy on maternal immune regulatory cells may have the additional benefit of controlling the immunopathology driving disease activity in RA. Here, we review our current understanding on the effects of pregnancy on RA and highlight some of the recent literature related to advancing our understanding on the immunology of pregnancy as well as the immunologic changes in RA during pregnancy.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Amin, S; Peterson, EJ; Reed, AM; Mueller, DL

Published Date

  • October 2011

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 13 / 5

Start / End Page

  • 449 - 455

PubMed ID

  • 21750959

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1534-6307

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1007/s11926-011-0199-1

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States