title: IL-18 in pregnancy; the elevation of IL-18 in maternal peripheral blood during labour and complicated pregnancies.
abstract: Serum interleukin-18 (IL-18) levels were measured in women in different trimesters of pregnancy, in labour, puerperium and in various complicated pregnancies. There was a significant elevation of IL-18 levels in pregnant sera from the first trimester until the onset of labour. Once labour began, IL-18 levels increased further and remained until at least the third day of puerperium. The high levels of IL-18 in sera were also observed in various complicated pregnancies, such as premature rupture of membranes (PROM), acute fatty liver of pregnancy and fetal growth restriction. IL-18 is likely to play a role in pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa-Cho, Nishinomiya, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ida
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muranaka
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kanazawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okamura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koyama
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood*; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D010146:Pain / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D011264:Pregnancy Trimesters
chemical_list: D020382:Interleukin-18