Galectin-1 levels raise in maternal circulation upon SARS-CoV-2 vaccination/ infection during gestation.

ZHAO F; XIE Y; GARCIA MG; DIEMERT A; BLOIS SM

Congreso; 16th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Reproductive Immunology (ESRI); 2022

Problem: In December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 a new virus from the group of coronaviruses was identified as the cause of atypical pneumonia disease called Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19). Pregnancy results in unique immune and respiratory systems changes that make pregnant women more susceptible to viral infections. Galectins are pleiotropic glycan binding proteins involved in many immune and inflammatory processes during pregnancy and their role in COVID-19 is still unknown.Method of study: In a subgroup of women participating in the prospective pregnancy cohort PRINCE (n=60) carried out in Germany, serum gal-1, -3, -7 and -9 levels were measured using sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits in women who suffered SARS-CoV-2 infection, received or not the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy. Results: Compared with no exposure SARS-CoV-2 pregnant women, circulating gal-1 levels were significantly increased in patients who suffered COVID-19 (p< 0.05) or were vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 (p< 0.0001) during gestation. No significant changes in gal-3, gal-7 and gal-9 circulating levels were detected between women exposed to SARS-CoV-19 vaccine/ infection and those patient with no exposure to the virus. Conclusion: COVID-19 infection or vaccination is associated with an increase circulating gal-1 levels late in gestation. Thus, up-regulation of gal-1 may indicate a contribution of this lectin to the protective immunomodulation during gestation. The precise mechanism of gal-1 effect in COVID-19 during pregnancy is still to be clarified.