Go to content
SV På svenska

Uterine immune cell profiling in early pregnancy bleedings

Reference number
UKR22-0080
Project leader
Petryk, Nataliia
Start and end dates
220601-231231
Amount granted
1 000 000 SEK
Administrative organization
Karolinska Institutet
Research area
Life Sciences

Summary

Bleeding from the uterus through the vagina in early pregnancy is a common problem that often has no clear etiology. Several hospital visits may be necessary, and the outcome of the pregnancy is unpredictable. This leads to discomfort and anxiety with the patients and hospital resources are substantially burdened. The origin and content of the bleedings is unknown. In this postdoctoral project I hypothesize that these bleedings harbors information that has predictive value for the pregnancy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the cells of the bleedings using state-of-the art analysis methods. I will also perform detailed 3D ultrasound examinations and obtain samples such as venous blood and serum. Combined with clinical information I aim to identify patterns of cellular and soluble markers, clinical markers, and 3D ultrasound data, that correlate with risk of miscarriage. My combined clinical (gynecologist) and basic scientific (PhD in basic medical science), makes me the perfect candidate to carry out the proposed project. The work will be performed in the Björkström-lab at Karolinska Institutet, a lab focused on uterine immunology and thus, it will be a highly integrated high-priority project. The findings have great potential to lead to new clinical practice where threatened miscarriage can be predicted, which will have impact on a large patient group and thus will also reduce healthcare costs.

Popular science description

Early pregnancy bleedings are very common and 20% of women having such bleedings suffer from a lost pregnancy (miscarriage). In this postdoctoral project I will employ a novel approach to try to understand such bleedings with the aim to identify novel diagnostics that will allow us to predict when a pregnancy is threatened and when it is not. By using the newest immunological methods combined with careful clinical follow-up, I will study a cohort of women by sampling these first trimester bleedings. The project will be performed in the group of Ass. Prof. Niklas Björkström at Karolinska Institutet, well integrated into the clinical research setting at the Karolinska University Hospital.