Serum granulysin is a marker for Th1 type immunity in pre-eclampsia.
Recent studies suggest that pre-eclampsia is associated with a Th1 predominant state and may be considered a failure of tolerance. Granulysin is a cytotoxic granule protein of natural killer (NK) cells and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). Recently, we developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system for detecting serum granulysin, and reported that serum granulysin is a useful marker to evaluate the cell-mediated immunity. In this study, we show that the serum levels of granulysin were significantly elevated in pre-eclamptic patients compared with those in normal pregnancy subjects. In addition, the serum granulysin levels in pre-eclamptic patients were well associated with mean blood pressure, percentage of peripheral blood Th1 cells and Th1/Th2 ratios. The present results suggest that the serum granulysin levels would be a useful and novel serum marker to evaluate the Th1/Th2 balance, especially Th1 type immunity in pre-eclampsia.
Sakai
M
M
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Toyama, Japan.
Ogawa
K
K
Shiozaki
A
A
Yoneda
S
S
Sasaki
Y
Y
Nagata
K
K
Saito
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology
D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D015415:Biomarkers; C075005:GNLY protein, human