Maternal serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in missed and threatened abortion. Paradisi R, Porcu E, Venturoli S, Maldini-Casadei M, Boni P. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2003 Oct; 50(4): 302-8. |
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A
study of association between pro-inflammatory cytokines, and missed
and threatened abortions with good outcome has been performed.
Method of study: The presence of pro-inflammatory cytokines, namely
interleukin (IL)-8 and IL-12 and the soluble interleukin-2 receptor
(SIL-2R) was investigated in maternal serum of 12 patients with
threatened abortion twice (at admission and discharge), 14 patients
with missed abortion, 14 women with healthy first-trimester pregnancy,
and 14 normal non-pregnant women, using specific enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assays. Results: SIL-2R and, in particular, IL-12
was detected with significantly higher levels in missed abortion
group compared with all other groups. IL-8 was detected with no
significant difference among all the groups studied. Conclusions:
In spite of caution due to the small sizes of the subject samples,
these results support a role of the immune system in the first
trimester pregnancy and hypothesize that missed abortion may be
associated with an enhanced Th1 reactivity, whereas threatened
abortion with good outcome resembles the normal pregnancy with
a non-enhanced Th1 reactivity. |