Detection of interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and interleukin-11 in plasma from women with spontaneous abortion.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the role of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-11 in the immune-regulatory mechanisms involved in the spontaneous abortion of the first trimester of pregnancy.


METHODS
Plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-11 were determined in 68 women who had a spontaneous abortion of unknown aetiology during the first trimester of pregnancy. They were compared with the corresponding levels of 73 age-matched pregnant women who had an uneventful pregnancy, and 52 age-matched non-pregnant women. All enrolled women presented without any severe disease, syndrome or recent infection. Cytokine levels were measured by a sensitive sandwich enzyme-linked immunoassay.


RESULTS
The women with spontaneous abortion had significantly decreased plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-11 compared to those with normal pregnancies (P<0.05). The non-pregnant women had no detectable cytokine levels.


CONCLUSIONS
The reduced plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-11 in women with spontaneous abortion may be related to the underlying aetiopathogenetic mechanisms, however, there is no sufficient evidence for their use as predictive markers of pregnancy outcome.
Koumantaki
Y
Y
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Matalliotakis
I
I
Sifakis
S
S
Kyriakou
D
D
Neonaki
M
M
Goymenou
A
A
Koumantakis
E
E
D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000097:blood*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D017370:Interleukin-11 / Q000097:blood*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy
D017370:Interleukin-11; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016209:Interleukin-8