MAWA Research Grant
Interactions of human monocytes/macrophages and decidual endothelial cells in the development of vascular disease in diabetic pregnancy, Dr Eileen Gallery, Renal Research Group, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney.
Diabetes is a common complication of human pregnancy and results in a number of short- and long-term problems in both the baby and mother. In pregnancies complicated by diabetes, evidence of vascular disease is visible as lesions surrounding blood vessels in the wall of the uterus.
A better understanding of cellular interactions in normal pregnancy and those complicated by diabetes will benefit not only pregnant women and their babies, but also the wider diabetic community with improved strategies for treatment and prevention.
Animals have been widely used to study diabetic pregnancy but since animal models do not adequately reflect the abnormalities occurring in human disease, there exists a need to establish systems using available human tissues. Dr Gallery was awarded $22,120 for her study, in which she proposed to obtain from the uterine wall of pregnant women, white blood cells (macrophages) and cells which line the mother’s blood vessels (endothelial cells). The interactions of the two cell types was examined and comparisons made between cells obtained from normal pregnant women and from diabetic women to clarify whether abnormal interactions between these cell types could account for the development of vascular disease in diabetes.