DEFB1 and COVID-19: In line with our findings, Brancaccio et al. [44] demonstrated that pregnant women with COVID-19 showed an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8) and AMPs (e.g., hBD-1, hBD-2, and hBD-4) in their serum, indicating an enhanced immune response against SARS-CoV-2 infection.