Pre-eclampsia--a state of mother-fetus immune imbalance.
Serial lymphocyte counts and function tests were done during and after pre-eclamptic pregnancies, and in the offspring. Compared with normal pregnancies, pre-eclamptic pregnancies were associated with lower B-lymphocyte counts in the fathers; lower T-lymphocyte count, lower B-lymphocyte count, and impaired T-lymphocyte function in mothers; a low response in mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC) tests between the mother and father; and an increased B-cell count in the children. Follow-up of one pre-eclamptic woman throughout pregnancy showed important immune changes at the beginning of the second trimester. These findings suggest that pre-eclampsia is caused by a combination of maternal and paternal hyporesponsiveness together with fetal hyperresponsiveness.
D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D007959:Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed; D008297:Male; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology