Pregnancy: success and failure within the Th1/Th2/Th3 paradigm.
Evidence from studies on murine and human pregnancy points to a strong association between maternal Th2-type immunity and successful pregnancy on the one hand and between Th1-type immune reactivity and pregnancy loss on the other. While there is a paucity of data from human pregnancy indicating that Th1-type immune effectors actually lead to pregnancy, it is difficult to ignore the compelling evidence linking inappropriate Th1-type immunity to pregnancy loss. Th2-type immunity and TGF beta secreted by Th3 cells may play protective roles during pregnancy, hence the nexus between a Th2/Th3 shift and successful pregnancy. This paper examines these associations and discusses possible mechanisms underlying immunologically mediated pregnancy failure.
Raghupathy
R
R
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 24239, Kuwait 13110. Raj@hsc.kuniv.edu.kw
D000026:Abortion, Habitual / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000276:immunology*; D011255:Pregnancy Maintenance / Q000276:immunology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology*
D016207:Cytokines