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Understanding Host-pathogen Interaction in the Respiratory Mucosa During Pregnancy

NCT04962477 · Status: COMPLETED · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 48

Last updated 2025-12-19

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The clinical presentation of the ongoing coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic in pregnant women is unique with more asymptomatic infection, higher morbidity when symptomatic, yet without a difference in mortality rate. This is strikingly different from the high mortality observed during the past influenza A pandemics. Though both influenza A virus (IAV) and SARS-CoV-2 are single-stranded RNA viruses, the exquisite vulnerability of pregnant women to influenza A but not COVID-19 remains a mystery. Our objective, therefore, is to determine the mechanisms that predispose pregnant women to severe influenza A but confer protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection by examining the viral entry factors and innate immune response mechanisms in the nasal epithelium of pregnant vs. non-pregnant age-matched women.

Conditions

  • Pregnancy Related
  • Innate Inflammatory Response

Interventions

OTHER

Nasal brush sampling

Nasal brush samples will be collected from the inferior turbinate using standardized techniques after local anesthetic application. After clearing the mucus from the nasal cavity by asking the patient to blow their nostrils twice followed by local anesthetic spray application, nasal brush samples will be collected from the inferior turbinate of each nostril with dedicated soft cytology brushes and pooled together for molecular biological experiments. Simultaneously, 10 mL of peripheral blood will be collected for immunophenotyping.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Washington University School of Medicine

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Arvind Palanisamy, MD · Washington University School of Medicine

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
45 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2022-03-02
Primary Completion
2023-09-27
Completion
2023-09-27

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04962477 on ClinicalTrials.gov