Cytokine imbalance in pregnancies with fetal chromosomal abnormalities.
BACKGROUND
The aim of the present study is to investigate the levels of some of the cytokines which may be involved in the mechanisms leading to the impairment of placental perfusion and to the onset of uterine contractions in pregnancies with fetal genetic abnormalities compared with controls.


METHODS
The amniotic fluid and maternal plasma levels of interleukin-6, interleukin-8 and tumour necrosis factor-beta in patients with fetal chromosomal abnormalities were measured, as well as in euploid pregnancies in the seventh week of gestation.


RESULTS
An increase of interleukin-6 (P = 0.034) and a decrease of interleukin-8 (P < or =0.0001) in amniotic fluid, and a decrease of interleukin-6 in the maternal plasma (P = 0.026) was shown in pregnancies with fetal chromosomal abnormalities. A positive correlation was observed between amniotic interleukin-8 and serum interleukin-6 in the presence of fetal aneuploidy (P < 0.006).


CONCLUSIONS
Further investigations of cytokine imbalance in pregnancies with poor outcome as a consequence of genetic disorders rather than infection is warranted.
Vesce
F
F
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Advanced Therapy, Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy. vsf@dns.unife.it
Scapoli
C
C
Giovannini
G
G
Tralli
L
L
Gotti
G
G
Valerio
A
A
Piffanelli
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000378:metabolism; D000782:Aneuploidy; D001769:Blood / Q000378:metabolism; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000196:embryology*; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism*; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008233:Lymphotoxin-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000378:metabolism*; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D012016:Reference Values
D015850:Interleukin-6; D016209:Interleukin-8; D008233:Lymphotoxin-alpha