TLR9 Provokes Inflammation in Response to Fetal DNA

[caryn]

In this study, we show that circulating fetal DNA, which is elevated in pregnancies complicated by preterm labor or preeclampsia, triggers an inflammatory reaction that results in spontaneous preterm birth...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22544937

So this is an animal study, but we also have toll-like receptors - TLR9 stands for toll-like receptor 9 - so even though preeclampsia is a human disease this could still be a mechanism in play. Two very interesting things here: one, in the "knockout" mice, where they weren't expressing the relevant genes, fetal DNA did not trigger the inflammatory response. And two, chloroquine blocks the toll-like receptors in question.

Chloroquine is a very, very old malaria drug, and I know nothing about its use in pregnant women. IIRC it isn't used so much these days because malaria is now resistant to it...? Any lurking biologists/public health people please correct me!