Expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 on the surface of peripheral blood and decidual lymphocytes of women with pregnancy-induced hypertension

OBJECTIVE: If overexpression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (CD54) on lymphocytes exists it could have important implications for the pathophysiology of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). STUDY DESIGN: CD54 "in vitro" expression (described as (%) of CD54+cells and CD54 mean fluorescence intensity, MFI) on the peripheral blood and decidual lymphocytes of pregnant with pre-eclampsia (PE) (n=16), transient hypertension (TH) (n=12), and controls (n=9). RESULTS: The percent (%) of CD54+peripheral blood lymphocytes, CD54 MFI on them and CD54 MFI on decidual lymphocytes were increased especially in PE. During PE the (%) of CD54 decidual lymphocytes correlated negatively with platelet count. In TH the positive correlation between the blood pressure and the (%) of CD54 peripheral blood lymphocytes as well as CD54 MFI on decidual lymphocytes were found. CONCLUSIONS: (1) PIH, especially PE, is accompanied by overexpression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) on peripheral blood and decidual lymphocytes studied "in vitro", (2) Some of the parameters studied seem to correlate with clinical markers of PIH intensity but this fact needs further investigations using larger subject groups.