[Levels of immunoreactive cytokines in serum of women with preeclampsia or severe pregnancy hypertension].
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the study was to compare concentrations of inflammatory and Th1/Th2 cytokines in serum obtained from women with preeclampsia or severe pregnancy hypertension versus normotensive controls.


METHODS
The study group consisted of 34 pregnant women with hypertension over 140/90mmHg and proteinuria over 0.3 g/day or severe pregnancy hypertension. 16 healthy pregnant women comprised the control group. The concentration of IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNFalpha and IFNgamma was measured with Cytometric Bead Array Human Th1/Th2 Cytokine Kit II (Becton Dickinson). U-Mann Whitney test was used for the comparison of the results.


RESULTS
We found statistically significantly increased concentrations of IFNgamma: 8.4 +/- 5.3 pg/ml vs. 4.2 +/- 3.2 pg/ml (p = 0.02), TNFalpha: 1.5 +/- 0.7 pg/ml vs. 0.7 +/- 0.3 pg/ml (p = 0.04) and IL-2: 1.3-0.6 pg/ml vs. 0.6 +/- 0.4 pg/ml (p = 0.01) in the studied group. The level of IL-6 35.5 +/- 21.0 pg/ml vs. 19.8 +/- 12.3 pg/ml was also increased but the difference did not reach statistical significance. Concentrations of IL-4 and IL- 10 were similar in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Increased concentrations of Th1 cytokines (IFNgamma, IL-2) in the serum of women with preeclampsia suggests an exaggerated cytotoxic activity of blood in this pathology accompanied by an increase in the levels of inflammatory cytokines TNFalpha and IL-6.
Tarnowska-Madra
Urszula
U
Klinika Poloznictwa I Ginekologii Instytutu Matki i Dziecka w Warszawie. ulatar@tlen.pl
Leibschang
Jerzy
J
Kowalska
Bozena
B
Filipp
Ewa
E
Kozar
Agata
A
Nimer
Anna
A
Maciejewski
Tomasz
T
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D046110:Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced / Q000276:immunology*; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000097:blood; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000097:blood; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000276:immunology; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood; D055815:Young Adult
D016207:Cytokines; D020382:Interleukin-18; D007376:Interleukin-2; D015850:Interleukin-6; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016753:Interleukin-10; D015847:Interleukin-4