The Role of CD4(+)CD25(bright) Regulatory T Cells in the Maintenance of Pregnancy, Premature Rupture
June 28th, 2008 | by admin |The Role of CD4(+)CD25(bright) Regulatory T Cells in the Maintenance of Pregnancy, Premature Rupture of Membranes, and Labor.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes of the regulatory T cell subset in peripheral blood caused by gestational age and premature rupture of membranes (PROM) with or without labor to verify the role of regulatory T cells in pregnancy. Patients and Methods: We investigated regulatory T cell distribution in the peripheral blood of pregnancies during the first trimester (group I, n = 2), the second trimester (group II, n = 12), and the third trimester without PROM and labor (group III, n = 15). In addition, we evaluated pregnancies in the third trimester complicated by PROM (group IV, n = 4) and labor with no complication by PROM (Group V, n = 5). Comparisons were made with non-pregnant controls (group VI, n = 4) using flow cytometry. Results: During uncomplicated pregnancy, the CD4(+)CD25(bright) regulatory T cell population decreased with advancing gestational age (group I = 3.35 +/- 0.47, group II = 2.91 +/- 1.44, group III = 2.81 +/- 1.36, group VI = 2.52 +/- 0.71, p = NS). When we compared group IV with group III and V to evaluate the changes of the regulatory T cells with PROM, the CD4(+)CD25(bright) regulatory T cell population was significantly decreased in group IV compared to group III (p = 0.001) and group V (p = 0.026). Conclusion: The present results revealed that the regulatory T cell population increased in early pregnancy but decreased in pregnancies complicated by PROM, indicating that regulatory T cells might be related to the maintenance of pregnancy.
Seol HJ, Oh MJ, Lim JE, Jung NH, Yoon SY, Kim HJ.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Korea University College of Medicine Ansan Hospital, 516 Gojan-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do 425-707, Korea. haijkim@korea.ac.kr.