Researchers have known for decades that fevers in the first trimester of pregnancy increase risk for some heart defects and facial deformities such as cleft lip or palate.
But they have not known the reason for those defects.They thougt it was due to the root cause of the fever.It may be virus or bacteria.
Recently researchers of the Duke University Medical Center has found that fever it self cause those defects and it does not depend on the root cause.
Fever in first three to eight weeks of pregnancy can interfere with the development of heart and face of the fetus.According to results of the research they suggest a portion of congenital birth defects could be prevented by lowering the mother's fever with the judicious use of acetaminophen during the first trimester.Some Non Steroidal anti-inflammatory Drugs(NSAIDs) like ibuprofen and aspirin can also reduce the fever, but they have some adverse effects on late stages of the pregnancy.So those drugs are not good for use.
Neural crest cells play a big role in development of heart and face in embryo.Researchers found that those neural crest cells have some properties(some iron channels) that sensitive to the heat. To observe how fever impacts a developing fetus, the researchers studied zebrafish and chicken embryos.
Journal Reference:
Mary R. Hutson et al. Temperature-activated ion channels in neural crest cells confer maternal fever–associated birth defects. Science Signaling, October 2017 DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.aal4055
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