During pregnancy, all organs are mobilized

Hervé Poirier, editor-in-chief of the scientific magazine “Epsiloon” tells us today how, in each of her organs, the pregnant woman goes into superpower mode.

Hervé Poirier talks to us today about recent research and work on pregnancy.

franceinfo: for the first time, we see to what extent pregnancy mobilizes all the organs of the body. Explain to us…

Hervé Poirier: Mothers know that pregnancy puts the body into a very unique state. Until now, science knew less. Because it is very complicated, if not impossible, to do precise analyzes on pregnant women. And because rodent pregnancy, the animal model par excellence, is too different.

A team of Chinese biologists therefore turned to the macaque, which is very similar at the reproductive level. Uterus, mammary gland, ventricle, pancreas, kidney, spinal cord, skin. They took nearly 300 samples of 23 different tissues from non-pregnant females, and at early, intermediate and late stages of pregnancy.

And they measured in each sample the molecules that regulate biochemical processes (amino acids, lipids, sugars, etc.). This allowed them to evaluate the metabolic activity of each of these organs. And to draw up the first panorama upheavals that pregnancy causes throughout the body.

And what does this panorama look like?

Researchers found that the changes extend far beyond the organs commonly associated with pregnancy. As expected, the liver and heart have higher metabolic activity. But it is also true for the skin or for muscle tissue. All organs are in fact impacted. Strangely, pregnancy decouples the activity of these organs. Normally, their activities are all more or less correlated, coupled. This is no longer the case for pregnant women. Their body has truly entered into another balance.

What perspectives does this discovery open up?

This especially opens up preventive and therapeutic perspectives. Remember that for every 100,000 births, there are 1,800 newborns and more than 200 mothers who die from complications. For example, researchers have detected what could be a metabolic signature of preeclampsia, a serious illness of pregnancy. This gives hope for life-saving diagnoses and interventions. To be continued…

More generally, it makes us admire this body, capable of mobilizing all its organs. Which also explains this appetite, with an increase in food intake which largely exceeds the energy needs of the fetus. Pregnant women go into overdrive mode.