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The Association between Plasma ERVWE1 Concentrations and Affective Symptoms during Pregnancy: Is This a Friendly Alien?

Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) comprise 8% of the human genome, and HERV DNA was reported to be essential in human embryonic development. Specifically, HERV-W encodes a protein, syncytin-1, alternatively known as ERVWE1 (Human Endogenous Retrovirus W EnvC7-1 Envelope Protein), participating i...

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Autores principales: Serati, Marta, Esposito, Cecilia Maria, Grassi, Silvia, Bollati, Valentina, Barkin, Jennifer Lynn, Buoli, Massimiliano
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7763945/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33317172
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249217
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author Serati, Marta
Esposito, Cecilia Maria
Grassi, Silvia
Bollati, Valentina
Barkin, Jennifer Lynn
Buoli, Massimiliano
author_facet Serati, Marta
Esposito, Cecilia Maria
Grassi, Silvia
Bollati, Valentina
Barkin, Jennifer Lynn
Buoli, Massimiliano
author_sort Serati, Marta
collection PubMed
description Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) comprise 8% of the human genome, and HERV DNA was reported to be essential in human embryonic development. Specifically, HERV-W encodes a protein, syncytin-1, alternatively known as ERVWE1 (Human Endogenous Retrovirus W EnvC7-1 Envelope Protein), participating in human placental morphogenesis and having a role in immune system regulation. Syncytin-1 activity is increased in neuropsychiatric disorders, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. In our study, forty-four women in the third trimester of pregnancy were tested for ERVWE1 plasma levels. In concomitance with blood samples the following rating scales were administered to women: the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), State Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S), Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T), and Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI). We found that higher ERVWE1 protein plasma levels were significantly associated with higher PAI scores (p = 0.02), an earlier gestational age at the time of blood collection (p = 0.01), a longer duration of symptoms (p = 0.03), and fewer lifetime attempted suicides (p = 0.02). Our results seem to support the role of ERVWE1 in maintaining clinical psychiatric symptoms as a result of potential prolonged inflammation. At the same time, this protein may have a protective role in pregnant women by a reduction of suicidal behavior and a better mother–fetus relationship.
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spelling pubmed-77639452020-12-27 The Association between Plasma ERVWE1 Concentrations and Affective Symptoms during Pregnancy: Is This a Friendly Alien? Serati, Marta Esposito, Cecilia Maria Grassi, Silvia Bollati, Valentina Barkin, Jennifer Lynn Buoli, Massimiliano Int J Environ Res Public Health Brief Report Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) comprise 8% of the human genome, and HERV DNA was reported to be essential in human embryonic development. Specifically, HERV-W encodes a protein, syncytin-1, alternatively known as ERVWE1 (Human Endogenous Retrovirus W EnvC7-1 Envelope Protein), participating in human placental morphogenesis and having a role in immune system regulation. Syncytin-1 activity is increased in neuropsychiatric disorders, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. In our study, forty-four women in the third trimester of pregnancy were tested for ERVWE1 plasma levels. In concomitance with blood samples the following rating scales were administered to women: the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), State Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S), Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T), and Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI). We found that higher ERVWE1 protein plasma levels were significantly associated with higher PAI scores (p = 0.02), an earlier gestational age at the time of blood collection (p = 0.01), a longer duration of symptoms (p = 0.03), and fewer lifetime attempted suicides (p = 0.02). Our results seem to support the role of ERVWE1 in maintaining clinical psychiatric symptoms as a result of potential prolonged inflammation. At the same time, this protein may have a protective role in pregnant women by a reduction of suicidal behavior and a better mother–fetus relationship. MDPI 2020-12-09 2020-12 /pmc/articles/PMC7763945/ /pubmed/33317172 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249217 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Brief Report
Serati, Marta
Esposito, Cecilia Maria
Grassi, Silvia
Bollati, Valentina
Barkin, Jennifer Lynn
Buoli, Massimiliano
The Association between Plasma ERVWE1 Concentrations and Affective Symptoms during Pregnancy: Is This a Friendly Alien?
title The Association between Plasma ERVWE1 Concentrations and Affective Symptoms during Pregnancy: Is This a Friendly Alien?
title_full The Association between Plasma ERVWE1 Concentrations and Affective Symptoms during Pregnancy: Is This a Friendly Alien?
title_fullStr The Association between Plasma ERVWE1 Concentrations and Affective Symptoms during Pregnancy: Is This a Friendly Alien?
title_full_unstemmed The Association between Plasma ERVWE1 Concentrations and Affective Symptoms during Pregnancy: Is This a Friendly Alien?
title_short The Association between Plasma ERVWE1 Concentrations and Affective Symptoms during Pregnancy: Is This a Friendly Alien?
title_sort association between plasma ervwe1 concentrations and affective symptoms during pregnancy: is this a friendly alien?
topic Brief Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7763945/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33317172
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249217
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