Preclinical models of maternal asthma and progeny outcomes: a scoping review protocol.

OBJECTIVE: This scoping review will describe the methodology, phenotype, and characteristics of maternal asthma models used in preclinical studies and the outcomes that have been measured in the mother and progeny. This will identify gaps in knowledge of maternal and progeny outcomes following maternal asthma in pregnancy.

INTRODUCTION: Maternal asthma affects up to 17% of pregnancies worldwide and is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes in mothers and babies, including pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, Cesarean section, preterm birth, small for gestational age, nursery admission, and neonatal death. While the associations are well established, the mechanisms linking maternal asthma and adverse perinatal outcomes are largely unknown due to the difficulties of human mechanistic studies. The appropriate selection of animal models is vital to understanding the mechanisms underlying associations between human maternal asthma and adverse perinatal outcomes.

INCLUSION CRITERIA: This review will include primary studies published in English where outcomes have been studied in vivo in non-human mammalian species.

METHODS: This review will follow the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. We will search the electronic databases of MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, and Web of Science to identify papers published before the end of 2022. Initial keywords will include pregnancy, gestation, asthma, and wheeze, as well as validated search strings to identify papers that describe animal models. Extracted data will include information on methods used to induce maternal asthma; asthmatic phenotypes and characteristics; and maternal, pregnancy, placental, and progeny outcomes. The characteristics of each study will be presented in summary tables and a core outcome list to assist researchers in developing, reporting, and comparing future animal studies of maternal asthma.

REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER: Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/trwk5.