CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The main message of this work is the fact that female sex hormones, progesterone and estradiol, whose levels significantly rise during pregnancy, inhibit the production of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 with no apparent effect on pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α by activated MZ B cells. This is an important piece of information and helpsto better understand how the maternal immune system controls the balance between immune tolerance and immune activation during pregnancy leading to the simultaneously acceptance of the semi-allogeneic fetus and theproper defense of the mother against pathogens during this critical period of time.