title: Leukocytes of pregnant women with small-for-gestational age neonates have a different phenotypic and metabolic activity from those of women with preeclampsia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Preeclampsia and pregnancies complicated by small-for-gestational age (SGA) neonates share several underlying mechanisms of disease. However, while an exaggerated systemic maternal inflammatory response is regarded as one of the hallmarks of the pathogenesis of preeclampsia, the presence of a similar systemic intra-vascular inflammation in mothers of SGA neonates without hypertension is controversial. The aim of this study was to determine phenotypic and metabolic changes in granulocytes and monocytes of women who develop preeclampsia and those who deliver an SGA neonate, compared to normal pregnant women.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study included patients with a normal pregnancy (n = 33), preeclampsia (n = 33), and an SGA without preeclampsia (n = 33), matched for gestational age at blood sample collection. Granulocyte and monocyte phenotypes were determined by flow cytometry, using monoclonal antibodies against selective cluster of differentiation (CD) antigens. The panel of antibodies included the following: CD11b, CD14, CD16, CD18, CD49d, CD62L, CD64, CD66b, and HLA-DR. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (iROS) were assessed at the basal state and after stimulation (oxidative burst). Results were reported as mean channel brightness (MCB) or intensity of detected fluorescence. Analysis was conducted with non-parametric statistics. A p-value < 0.01 was considered statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  (1) Women who delivered an SGA neonate had a higher MCB of CD11b in granulocytes and monocytes than those with a normal pregnancy (p < 0.001 for both); (2) patients with preeclampsia had a lower median MCB of CD62L in granulocytes (p = 0.006) and a higher median basal iROS and oxidative burst in monocytes than women with an SGA neonate (p = 0.003 and p = 0.002, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pregnancies complicated by the delivery of an SGA neonate are characterized by a higher activation of maternal peripheral leukocytes than in normal pregnancies, but lower than in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia.
authors.affiliation: Perinatology Research Branch, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Oggé
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: Tinnakorn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chaiworapongsa
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Gervasi
authors.forename: Percy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pacora
authors.forename: Offer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Erez
authors.forename: Juan Pedro
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Kusanovic
authors.forename: Edi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vaisbuch
authors.forename: Shali
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mazaki-Tovi
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gotsch
authors.forename: Pooja
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mittal
authors.forename: Yeon Mee
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sonia S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Hassan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D008423:Maternal Age; D009035:Mothers; D010641:Phenotype; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D055815:Young Adult