Acetaminophen and pregnancy: increased susceptibility towards hepatotoxicity and impairment of maternal immune adaptation and fetal development

Objectives: Acetaminophen is used during pregnancy to treat pain or fever. Several human studies provided substantial evidence for a correlation between acetaminophen (APAP) use during pregnancy and an increased children's risk to develop asthma. We established a mouse model of APAP use during pregnancy and studied the impact of APAP on maternal liver damage and immune adaptation as well as on fetal immune development. Methods: Pregnant mice were treated intraperitoneally with either 50mg/kg or 250mg/kg APAP on gestation day (GD) 12.5 and sacrificed either 24 or 96h later on GD 13.5 and 16.5, respectively. Mater…