Abstract Preterm birth (PTB) complicates 5–18% of pregnancies globally and is a leading
cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Most PTB is spontaneous and idiopathic …

Pulmonary surfactant is a critical component of lung function in healthy individuals. It
functions in part by lowering surface tension in the alveoli, thereby allowing for breathing …

Surfactant protein D (SP-D) is a multimeric collectin that is involved in innate immune
defense and expressed in pulmonary, as well as non-pulmonary, epithelia. SP-D exerts …

Accumulating evidence indicates that aging is associated with a chronic low-level
inflammation, termed sterile-inflammation. Sterile-inflammation is a form of pathogen-free …

Spontaneous preterm birth (PTB) and preterm pre-labor rupture of the membranes (pPROM)
are major pregnancy complications. Although PTB and pPROM have common etiologies …

The central role of inflammatory processes in labour and delivery is now well-recognised.
However, the biomolecular, immunological and endocrine mechanisms involved in the …

Human parturition at term and preterm is an inflammatory process synchronously executed
by both fetomaternal tissues to transition them from a quiescent state t an active state of …

The steroid hormones progesterone (P4) and estradiol-17β (E2), produced by the placenta
in humans and the ovaries in rodents, serve crucial roles in the maintenance of pregnancy …

The mammalian fetus develops in a largely sterile environment, and direct exposure to a
complex microbiota does not occur until birth. We took advantage of this to examine the …

Every year, 15 million pregnancies end prematurely, resulting in more than 1 million infant
deaths and long‐term health consequences for many children. The physiological processes …