147: The placental derived protein syncytin-1 impairs antiviral responses and exaggerates inflammatory responses to influenza

Pregnant women are particularly susceptible to influenza and the recent pandemic shows that poor outcomes including death continue to occur. The placenta releases the endogenous retroviral envelope protein syncytin-1, which has been demonstrated to have immunosuppressive properties. We hypothesised that exposure of peripheral monocytes (PBMCs) from healthy women to syncytin-1 would impair antiviral responses to pandemic H1N109pdm, reflecting the impaired immune response seen in PBMCs from pregnant women.