Human Maternal-Fetal Interface Cellular Models to Assess Antiviral Drug Toxicity during Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a period of elevated risk for viral disease severity, resulting in serious health consequences for both the mother and the fetus; yet antiviral drugs lack comprehensive safety and efficacy data for use among pregnant women. In fact, pregnant women are systematically excluded from therap...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Reproductive medicine (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2022-12, Vol.3 (4), p.303-319
Main Authors: Herbek, Savannah L., Smithgall, Marie C., Murphy, Elisabeth A., Schwartz, Robert E., Chen, Shuibing, Riley, Laura E., Stuhlmann, Heidi, Yang, Yawei J., Goswami, Ria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
antivirals
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
fetal ex vivo models
maternal-fetal interface
placental ex vivo models
pregnancy
viral diseases
Viral infections
Womens health
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Summary:Pregnancy is a period of elevated risk for viral disease severity, resulting in serious health consequences for both the mother and the fetus; yet antiviral drugs lack comprehensive safety and efficacy data for use among pregnant women. In fact, pregnant women are systematically excluded from therapeutic clinical trials to prevent potential fetal harm. Current FDA-recommended reproductive toxicity assessments are studied using small animals which often do not accurately predict the human toxicological profiles of drug candidates. Here, we review the potential of human maternal-fetal interface cellular models in reproductive toxicity assessment of antiviral drugs. We specifically focus on the 2- and 3-dimensional maternal placental models of different gestational stages and those of fetal embryogenesis and organ development. Screening of drug candidates in physiologically relevant human maternal-fetal cellular models will be beneficial to prioritize selection of safe antiviral therapeutics for clinical trials in pregnant women.
ISSN:2673-3897
2673-3897
DOI:10.3390/reprodmed3040024