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https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(15)00164-8/fulltext

Rejuvenating effect of pregnancy on the mother

Aging is associated with reduced tissue regenerative capacity. In recent years, studies in mice have shown that transfusion of blood from young animals to old ones can reverse some aging effects and increase regenerative potential similar to that seen in young animals. Because pregnancy is a unique biological model of a partially shared blood system, we have speculated that pregnancy would have a rejuvenating effect on the mother. Recent studies support this idea. In this review, we will summarize the current knowledge of the rejuvenating effect of pregnancy on the mother.

Key Words:

Aging, regeneration, rejuvenation, pregnancy

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In aging organisms, the capacity to tissues to regenerate declines and healing in response to injury is delayed (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). This effect, which has been observed in liver, skin, bone, the hematopoietic system, nerve, and muscle, is attributable to the altered functions of many biological processes (1, 2). These include changes in growth factors or in extracellular matrix components, accumulation of DNA damage, and decline in the responsiveness of progenitor cells (3, 4, 5). The possibility of reversing these processes is offered by heterochronic parabiosis (connecting the circulations of a young and an old mouse). In the past it was found that these procedures could restore the regenerative capacity of striated muscle in old mice and increase the basic rate of cell proliferation in aged liver hepatocytes (6, 7), an effect redemonstrated more recently. In rats, aged muscle successfully regenerates when grafted into the muscle of a young host, and young muscle displays impaired regeneration when grafted into an aged host (8, 9).

Furthermore, it has been shown that an old animal exposed to serum taken from a young animal has increased regenerative potential, similar to that of a young animal. Thus, it may be speculated that the decreased regenerative potential that occurs with aging might be a reversible process and that factors in the young animal may have a rejuvenating effect on the old.

Pregnancy can be viewed as a natural state akin to parabiosis, in which organisms partly share blood systems – in this case, an adult organism (the pregnant mother) is exposed to extremely young organisms (the fetuses). The fetus may thus have a rejuvenating effect on the mother. We recently showed that pregnancy restores the regenerative capacity of the aged liver in mice, while others have demonstrated this effect in other organs. In this review, we will summarize the current knowledge/evidence of the rejuvenating effect of pregnancy on the mother.