{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]],"date-time":"2026-07-01T14:21:05Z","timestamp":1782915665734,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,15]],"date-time":"2024-07-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1721001600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>To better understand the vulnerabilities of pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a comprehensive, retrospective cohort study to assess differences in immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection between pregnant and non-pregnant women. Nasopharyngeal swabs and serum specimens from 90 pregnant and 278 age-matched non-pregnant women were collected from 15 March 2020 to 23 July 2021 at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital in New York City. Multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, neutralizing antibody, and cytokine array assays were used to assess the incidence, viral load, antibody titers and profiles, and examine cytokine expression patterns. Our results show a lower incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women compared with non-pregnant women. Pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 exhibited a substantially lower viral load. In addition, the levels of both anti-spike protein receptor-binding domain IgG neutralizing antibodies and anti-N Protein IgG were elevated in pregnant women. Finally, cytokine profiling revealed differential expression of leptin across cohorts. These findings suggest that pregnancy is associated with distinct immune and virological responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by lower infection rates, substantially lower viral loads, and enhanced antibody production. Differential cytokine expression indicates unique immune modulation in pregnant women.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms25147731","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,15]],"date-time":"2024-07-15T18:17:32Z","timestamp":1721067452000},"page":"7731","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Comparative Analysis of Viral Load and Cytokines during SARS-CoV-2 Infection between Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Women"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0658-5866","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dakai","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, 56-45 Main Street Flushing, New York, NY 11355, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hui","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, 56-45 Main Street Flushing, New York, NY 11355, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaofeng","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510182, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"George D.","family":"Rodriguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, 56-45 Main Street Flushing, New York, NY 11355, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4792-5708","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Harlan","family":"Pietz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, 56-45 Main Street Flushing, New York, NY 11355, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Roberto Hurtado","family":"Fiel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital, 4201 St Antoine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eric","family":"Konadu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, 56-45 Main Street Flushing, New York, NY 11355, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vishnu","family":"Singh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, 56-45 Main Street Flushing, New York, NY 11355, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Florence","family":"Loo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, 56-45 Main Street Flushing, New York, NY 11355, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"William Harry","family":"Rodgers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Clinical Laboratories, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, 56-45 Main Street Flushing, New York, NY 11355, USA"},{"name":"Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weil Cornell Medical College, 1300 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100044","DOI":"10.1016\/j.hsr.2022.100044","article-title":"COVID-19: Consequences on pregnant women and neonates","volume":"4","author":"Sharma","year":"2022","journal-title":"Health Sci. 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