Stillbirth , a babe born dead after24 to 28 weeks of pregnancyhave pass , is a traumatic experience for all involved . Around one-half of them are linked to ramification with the placenta , the organ in the uterus of the female parent that nourishes and maintain the fetus . Just last yr , there were2.6 million stillbirthsaround the world , most of which occurred in low to middle - income nation .
Although the science behind them is slowly becoming clear , there ’s much that medical professionals are still yet to learn . pen in the journalPLOS Pathogens , scientist have found a mechanism through which spontaneous abortion occur in pregnant mice , and the same issue may occur in human race .
Group BStreptococcus , also recognise as Strep B , is a bacterium that endure in around 30 percent of pregnant cleaning lady worldwide , often without causing any problems in the lower venereal tract . However , in pregnant mice , it appears to produce protein - filled balloons called extracellular membrane vesicles ( MVs ) that migrate up into the uterus . Once there , they react with the surrounding tissue paper to cause it to inflame , which can sabotage the amnionic sac . If enough harm is done , this could cause a miscarriage to happen .
“ In animal study , we found that the millivolt interrupt the connective tissue paper of the foetal membrane reduce its mechanically skillful strength which may get untimely breach of amniotic theca , ” the authors , lead by Manalee Surve of the Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay in Mumbai , write in their work . “ Further we show that even in absence of the bacteria , the MVs immediately lead to encompassing lighting in the black eye result in chorio - amnionitis , preterm birth and still birth . ”
These MVs were first spotted using a high - powered scanning electron microscope ( SEM ) . They were canvas and found to contain corrosive proteins that trigger prison cell death . Disturbingly , almost all the pups of fraught mice with these Mv within their amnic pouch perished either within their heavy mother ( in utero ) or were born untimely .
At this stage , it ’s unclear why these toxic mendelevium are manufactured in the first position , but they may be used in turf wars against other bacteria . A similar mechanism was find within human nose just recently , with one type of bacteriaproducing an antibioticto putting to death another , one which find to be very close related to the MRSA “ superbug . ”
Either way , these findings show that a vaccine against Strep B should be a key priority . As reported byScience News , doctors test pregnant women for it between 35 and 37 weeks , and any Strep - positive patients take antibiotic during task to prevent the infection from diffuse to newborns . However , this study hints that an earlier test may be required to ultimately prevent potential stillbirth .
