ASRI2005-88Comparable levels of CD4+CD25+ CTLA4+ Treg cells in peripheral blood of pre-eclampsia and normal pregnant patients |
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Authors: | S Paeschke N Horn C Fotopoulou A Zambon-Bertoja A Sollwedel ML Zenclussen P Casalis J Dudenhausen HD Volk F Chen A Zenclussen |
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Affiliation: | Institute for Medical Immunology, Charite, Medical University of Berlin, Germany, CVK and CCM; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Charite, Medical University of Berlin, Germany, CVK |
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Abstract: | The acceptance of the semiallogeneic fetus within the maternal environment requires tolerance mechanisms not fully characterized yet. Normal pregnancy is known to be associated with a Th2 profile. Furthermore, T-regulatory cells were proposed to regulate the Th2/Th1 balance at early stages of pregnancy. Treg may avoid the shift to a Th1 profile preventing miscarriage. Accordingly, spontaneous abortion is characterized by a Th1 dominance and diminished levels of Tregulatory cells (Treg). The major aim of the present work was to investigate if pre-eclampsia, a late immunological complication of pregnancy, is characterized by similar hallmarks. Therefore, we measured the surface antigens CD4, CD25, CD8, CTLA4 (as well as the secretion of IL-10) in peripheral blood from patients suffering from pre-eclampsia (n = 8) and age-matched patients undergoing normal pregnancies (n = 9) by 4-colour flow-cytometry. We were not able to find any significant differences in the levels of CD4+, CD25+, CD8+, CTLA4, CD4+/CD25+, CD4+/CD25bright, CD4+/CTLA4, CD25+/CTLA4, CD4+/CD25+/CTLA4, CD8+/CD25+, CD8+/CTLA4 or CD8+/CD25+/CTLA4 cell subsets. Our data suggest that Treg may not participate in the onset of pre-eclampsia and suggest other regulatory mechanisms during late pregnancy. |
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