review · Frontiers in Immunology
Aerobic glycolysis is a common metabolic process in tumours that causes lactic acid to accumulate in the local microenvironment. During early pregnancy, blastocysts, the placenta, trophoblasts, and decidual immune cells also generate substantial amounts of lactic acid through this metabolic route. Furthermore, the placenta expresses dedicated transporters for lactic acid. Although the regulatory effects of lactic acid on immune cells in cancer settings are established, its biological significance in early pregnancy remains unclear. By examining evidence from tumour microenvironments, lactic acid released in the uterine environment is proposed to serve as a signalling molecule that similarly influences trophoblast and immune cells. This conceptual framework suggests that metabolic shifts in maternal and foetal tissues may direct immune adaptations during initial development.
Understanding the biochemical signals that guide early pregnancy is essential for reproductive health. By identifying shared metabolic traits between tumours and early embryonic tissues, scientists can better understand how the maternal immune system tolerates developing cells. Defining the role of lactic acid may open new perspectives on how the uterine environment supports normal foetal and placental development.
This research represents very early-stage conceptual work exploring biological parallels between oncology and reproductive physiology. The abstract does not indicate a commercial application pathway, target users, or immediate product concepts. Any future translation, such as identifying biomarkers or therapeutic targets for pregnancy disorders, would require extensive experimental validation to determine if uterine lactic acid can be practically monitored or modulated.
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Aerobic glycolysis is a recognized feature shared by tumors, leading to the accumulation of lactic acid in their local microenvironments. Like the tumors, the blastocysts, placenta, trophoblasts and decidual immune cells can also produce a large amount of lactic acid through aerobic glycolysis during the early pregnancy. Moreover, the placenta expresses the transporters of the lactic acid. While several studies have described the role of lactic acid in the tumor microenvironment, especially lactic acid's modulation of immune cells, the role of lactic acid produced during pregnancy is still unclear. In this paper, we reviewed the scientific evidence detailing the effects of lactic acid in the tumor microenvironment. Based on the influence of the lactic acid on immune cells and tumors, we proposed that lactic acid released in the unique uterine environment could have similar effects on the trophoblast cells and immune cells during the early pregnancy.
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DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00279
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