Foetal cells could trigger illnesses decades later in mothers: study

A recent study seems to have given women with pregnancy plans many reasons to worry about. According to new research, cells from unborn babies travel into the mother’s body and could even put her at risk of arthritis and thyroid cancer for decades after the child is born.

The findings also suggested that these cells could trigger postnatal depression, early menopause and breast cancer. Foetal microchimerism is the term used to describe the presence of foetal cells in maternal tissue. Although scientists have known that cells travel from the foetus’s body into the mother’s for quite some time, they were not sure whether this could harm or benefit the mother in any way.

After reviewing existing data on the subject, researchers said that foetal cells enter a cooperative relationship in some maternal tissues and compete for resources in other tissues. Sometimes these cells may exist as harmless neutral entities whereas in other instances they may even contribute to causing inflammatory responses and autoimmunity.

The researchers also found that foetal cells occur more frequently in both blood and thyroid tissue of women with thyroid diseases likes Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease and thyroid cancer. The study also suggested that early menopause could happen because of foetal cells attempting to prevent other children being conceived, so that foetus could secure maximum resources for itself.

The study was published in the advanced online edition of the journal Bioessays.