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Review
. 2025 Sep;12(1):471-489.
doi: 10.1146/annurev-virology-092623-094004. Epub 2025 Apr 18.

Maternal Antibodies to Neurovirulent Pathogens in Fetal Tissues

Matthew D Slein  1   2 , Margaret E Ackerman  1   2 , David A Leib  1
Affiliations
Review

Maternal Antibodies to Neurovirulent Pathogens in Fetal Tissues

Matthew D Slein et al. Annu Rev Virol. 2025 Sep.

Abstract

Infection by neurovirulent pathogens in utero and during the neonatal period can lead to fetal and neonatal mortality as well as neurological morbidity with lifelong consequences. Fortunately, maternal antibodies (Abs) serve as a means to protect humans as their immune system forms and matures. For some of the particularly consequential viral infections of early life, preclinical and clinical evidence demonstrate an unambiguously protective role of maternal Abs; for others, maternal Abs also have the potential to contribute to disease pathology. Here, we discuss how maternal Abs are temporarily inherited and distributed in fetal tissue. We focus on how this transgenerational form of immunity influences mortality and neurological morbidity as a result of herpes simplex virus, human cytomegalovirus, and flavivirus infections in early life.

Keywords: HCMV; HSV; Zika virus; maternal antibody; neonatal infections; neurovirulent pathogens.

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