Cytokine mapping of sera from women with preeclampsia and normal pregnancies.
BACKGROUND
Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific syndrome. The immune system in preeclampsia is changed with an increased innate activity and there is a hypothesis of a shift towards Th1-type immunity. The aim of this study was to determine a spectrum of soluble immunological factors denoting different aspects of immune activation in third trimester sera from women with preeclampsia (N=15) and compare with levels in sera from normal pregnant women (N=15).


METHODS
IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12 p40, IL-13, IL-15, IL-17, IFN-alpha, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, GM-CSF, MIP-lalpha, MIP-1beta, MCP-1, eotaxin and RANTES were measured in serum using multiplex bead arrays. The levels of soluble CD14 and soluble IL-4 receptor were measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA).


RESULTS
Preeclamptic women had significantly increased levels of circulating IL-6 (p=0.002), IL-8 (p=0.003) and soluble IL-4R (p=0.037), compared to women with normal pregnancies.


CONCLUSIONS
This study supports the hypothesis of increased inflammatory responses in preeclampsia, illustrated by the increased levels of IL-6 and IL-8. The finding of increased levels of soluble IL-4 receptor is an intriguing finding with several interpretations, which may partly support the hypothesis of a Th1 shift in preeclampsia.
Jonsson
Yvonne
Y
Unit of Autoimmunity and Immune Regulation, Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Division of Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden. yvonne.jonsson@imk.liu.se
Rubèr
Marie
M
Matthiesen
Leif
L
Berg
Göran
G
Nieminen
Katri
K
Sharma
Surendra
S
Ernerudh
Jan
J
Ekerfelt
Christina
C
D000328:Adult; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D019948:Receptors, Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology
D016207:Cytokines; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016209:Interleukin-8; D019948:Receptors, Interleukin-4