Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Apr 11;9(4):e94714.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0094714. eCollection 2014.

Lower transplacental antibody transport for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella zoster in very preterm infants

Jolice P van den Berg  1 , Elisabeth A M Westerbeek  1 , Gaby P Smits  2 , Fiona R M van der Klis  2 , Guy A M Berbers  2 , Ruurd M van Elburg  3
Affiliations

Lower transplacental antibody transport for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella zoster in very preterm infants

Jolice P van den Berg et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Maternal antibodies, transported over the placenta during pregnancy, contribute to the protection of infants from infectious diseases during the first months of life. In term infants, this protection does not last until the first recommended measles-mumps-rubella vaccination at 14 months in the Netherlands, while these viruses still circulate. The aim of the study was to investigate the antibody concentration against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV) in mothers and preterm infants or healthy term infants at birth.

Methods: Antibody concentrations specific for MMRV were measured in cord blood samples from preterm (gestational age <32 weeks and/or birth weight <1500 g) and term infants, and matched maternal serum samples, using a fluorescent bead-based multiplex immune-assay.

Results: Due to lower placental transfer ratios of antibodies against MMRV in 96 preterm infants (range 0.75-0.87) compared to 42 term infants (range 1.39-1.65), the preterm infants showed 1.7-2.5 times lower geometric mean concentrations at birth compared to term infants. Maternal antibody concentration is the most important determinant of infant antibody concentration against MMRV.

Conclusions: Preterm infants benefit to a lesser extent from maternal antibodies against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella than term infants, posing them even earlier at risk for infectious diseases caused by these still circulating viruses.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have the following interests. Ruurd P. van Elburg is an employee of Danone Research (Nutricia Research Utrecht). Previously, Ruurd van Elburg was a neonatologist on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the VU University Medical Center and he became an employee of Danone Research (Nutricia Research Utrecht) after the data collection for this study. Ruurd P. van Elburg was not directly involved in the analysis of the data. The authors declare that this does not alter their adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. The other authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Transplacental transport ratio of measles, mumps, rubella and varicella with 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Individual maternal-to cord blood antibody concentrations of measles (IU/ml), mumps (RU/ml), rubella (IU/ml) and varicella (IU/ml).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Malek A, Sager R, Kuhn P, Nicolaides KH, Schneider H (1996) Evolution of maternofetal transport of immunoglobulins during human pregnancy. Am J Reprod Immunol 36: 248–255. - PubMed
    1. Leineweber B, Grote V, Schaad UB, Heininger U (2004) Transplacentally acquired immunoglobulin G antibodies against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella-zoster virus in preterm and full term newborns. Pediatr Infect Dis J 23: 361–363. - PubMed
    1. Linder N, Tallen-Gozani E, German B, Duvdevani P, Ferber A, et al. (2004) Placental transfer of measles antibodies: effect of gestational age and maternal vaccination status. Vaccine 22: 1509–1514. - PubMed
    1. Linder N, Waintraub I, Smetana Z, Barzilai A, Lubin D, et al. (2000) Placental transfer and decay of varicella-zoster virus antibodies in preterm infants. J Pediatr 137: 85–89. - PubMed
    1. van den Berg JP, Westerbeek EA, van der Klis FR, Berbers GA, van Elburg RM (2011) Transplacental transport of IgG antibodies to preterm infants: a review of the literature. Early Hum Dev 87: 67–72. - PubMed