title: Maternal lymphocyte subsets in the cases with neural tube defects.
abstract: Neural tube defects (NTDs) are among the most prevalent of congenital malformations. Organ system anomalies and certain changes in the thymus gland have also been reported. Lymphocyte subset changes can be expected in infants with NTD as a result of these thymic anomalies. We investigated lymphocyte subpopulations in twenty-one mothers of NTD cases in order to evaluate the maternal immunological alterations. The mothers of twenty-one healthy infants were chosen as a control group. Pregnancy is known to be associated with a depression in cellular immunity. We found, however, some additional changes in cellular immunity in the mothers of NTDs. The CD4/CD8 ratios were significantly lower than those of control mothers (p = 0.044). This difference was related to the increased percentage of CD8 cells found in mothers of NTDs (p = 0.004). These results suggest that immunosuppression is more evident in the mothers of babies with NTDs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics Social Security Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: F N
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Seniz
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Gürakan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Firat
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kayaalp
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tokali
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Laleli
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karaağaoğlu
mesh_terms: D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000276:immunology*