title: Effect of pregnancy on serum cytokines in SLE patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to evaluate an extensive panel of cytokines involved in immune regulation during pregnancy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and in healthy women.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 47 consecutive successful pregnancies in 46 SLE patients and 56 pregnancies in 56 matched healthy subjects, as controls, were prospectively studied. Serum interleukin (IL)-1-α, IL-1-β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, interferon (INF)-γ and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were detected in sera obtained at the first and third trimester of pregnancy by a highly sensitive, multiplexed sandwich ELISA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Medians (pg/ml) of serum levels of most helper T (Th)1-type cytokines were significantly lower in the third trimester compared with those observed in the first trimester of pregnancy in healthy women: INF-γ 2.0 vs 3.4, TNF-α 10.2 vs 11.5, IL-1-α 0.9 vs 1.1, IL-1-β 0.6 vs 1.0, IL-2 3.0 vs 3.5, and IL-12p70 4.9 vs 5.6 (P-values < 0.02 for all). By contrast, only the IL-1-α serum levels were lower in the third trimester compared with the first trimester in SLE patients (P = 0.006). IFN-γ/IL-6 and IFN-γ/IL-10 ratios were higher in controls than in SLE (P = 0.002, and P = 0.001, respectively); moreover, they were significantly reduced in the third compared to the first trimester of pregnancy in healthy women, but not in SLE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In SLE patients, Th1/Th2 cytokine serum level ratio does not decrease during pregnancy progression as much as in healthy pregnant women. This could account for the observation of a low frequency of disease flares in the third trimester of gestation.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 2, Padova, 35128, Italy. adoria@unipd.it
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Doria
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cutolo
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghirardello
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zen
authors.forename: Danilo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Villalta
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tincani
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Punzi
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Iaccarino
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petri
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines