Longevity & AgingComplement Inhibitor Blocks Preterm Birth and Protects Fetal Brain in Mouse Study
Researchers at MUSC used a mouse model of infection-driven preterm birth to show that the complement system plays a central role in triggering early delivery and fetal brain inflammation. By administering CR2-Crry, a fusion protein that homes to sites of complement activation and blocks C3 convertase, they dramatically extended pregnancy from ~31 hours to ~109 hours post-LPS injection. Treated dams reached a median gestational age of 20 days versus 16 days for controls, produced viable pups (average 2.4 vs. 0), and showed reduced cervical macrophage infiltration, lower pro-inflammatory cytokines in uterine tissue, and attenuated complement deposition and inflammation in fetal brain tissue. These findings suggest complement inhibition could become a therapeutic strategy for preventing preterm labor.
