title: Effect of leukocyte therapy on tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma production in patients with recurrent spontaneous abortion.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Considering the deleterious role of T helper1 (Th1) cells in pregnancy outcome, a successful treatment for recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) should be able to make a significant shift away from Th1 responses. Although paternal leukocyte immunization has been used for treatment of RSA for years, because of methodological differences there is no consensus on the mechanism of action and effectiveness of this method.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five Iranian non-pregnant women with RSA and 16 non-pregnant control women with at least two successful pregnancies were included in this study. All cases were followed up after leukocyte therapy for pregnancy outcome. Mononuclear cells from women were co-cultured with the husband's mononuclear cells before and after immunotherapy. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) were checked on culture supernatant by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean concentration of TNF-alpha was significantly higher in patients compared with that in normal controls (P=0.0001). After immunotherapy, the TNF-alpha level was only significantly decreased in women with successful outcome (P=0.0001). Immunotherapy also induced a significant reduction in the IFN-gamma level (P=0.009).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this investigation confirm the role of TNF-alpha in RSA and propose the assessment of TNF-alpha production as a valuable prognostic parameter for the prediction of abortion after leukocyte therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Behrouz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gharesi-Fard
authors.forename: Jaleh
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zolghadri
authors.forename: Eskandar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kamali-Sarvestani
mesh_terms: D000026:Abortion, Habitual / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy*; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology; D007519:Isoantigens; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D011247:Pregnancy; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D007519:Isoantigens; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D007371:Interferon-gamma