Normal pregnancy relies on a careful balance between immune tolerance and suppression. It is known that strict regulation of maternal immune function, in addition to components of inflammation, is paramount to successful pregnancy, and any imbalance between proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines can lead to aberrant inflammation, often seen in complicated pregnancies. Inflammation in complicated pregnancies is directly associated with increased mortality and morbidity of the mother and offspring. Aberrant inflammatory reactions in complicated pregnancies often lead to adverse outcomes, such as spontaneous abortion, preterm labor, intrauterine growth restriction, and fetal demise. The role of inflammation in different stages of normal pregnancy is reviewed, compared, and contrasted with aberrant inflammation in complicated pregnancies. The complications addressed are preterm labor, pregnancy loss, infection, preeclampsia, maternal obesity, gestational diabetes mellitus, autoimmune diseases, and inflammatory bowel disease. This article examines the role of various inflammatory factors contributing to aberrant inflammation in complicated pregnancies. By understanding the aberrant inflammatory process in complicated pregnancies, novel diagnostic tools and therapeutic interventions for modulating it appropriately can be identified.

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Asthma is a common disease, and the number of people diagnosed with it increases every year. Although genetic background and environmental exposures play major roles in the development of asthma, one cannot overlook the developmental origin of adult disease or fetal programming theory. This review examines the social, genetic, and environmental factors that are associated with fetal programming of asthma. We also present recent studies from our laboratory that strengthen these observations. It is our hope that the reader will come away with a current view of fetal programming in asthma.

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