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Presentation Title: Toxicant-Pathogen Interactions During Pregnancy: How trichloroethylene metabolite S-(1,2-dichlorovinyl)-l-cysteine inhibits innate immune responses to bacteria.

Presentation Abstract: Pathogenic infection of the gestational tissues is a leading known cause of preterm birth (PTB). Some environmental toxicants decrease the capacity for organisms to mount an immune defense against pathogens. Group B Streptococcus (GBS; Streptococcus agalactiae) is a bacterial pathogen that is frequently found in the female reproductive tract and can colonize the pregnant women. This presentation will detail work in our research group demonstrating that a bioactive trichloroethylene (TCE) metabolite, S-(1, 2-dichlorovinyl)-L-cysteine (DCVC), potently inhibits innate immune responses to bacteria such as GBS in human fetal membranes in culture and separately in the macrophage cell line THP-1. The research serves as an example of how toxicant exposures may affect immune system function leaving pregnant women vulnerable to other pathogenic insults.