title: Soluble CD30 in normal pregnancy, pre-eclampsia and recurrent pregnancy loss.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Normal pregnancy is thought to be dependent on Th2 deviation, while Recurrent Pregnancy Loss (RPL) and Pre-eclampsia (PE) appear to be biased toward the Th1 immune response. It is believed that the soluble form of CD30 (sCD30) is an index of Th2 immune response or modulator of Th1/Th2 responses.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was determination of the sCD30 level in RPL and PE patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sCD30 level was measured in sera of a group of normal non-pregnant women (N=43) and compared with normal pregnancy at the first (N=42) and third (N=42) trimester. Furthermore, the level of sCD30 in the normal first and third trimester pregnancies were compared with that of RPL (N=38) and severe pre-eclamptic (N=41) patients, respectively. sCD30 levels were measured by ELISA method and student t-test was used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean level of sCD30 at the first trimester in normal pregnancy was significantly elevated as compared with normal non-pregnant women (21.4 vs. 15.2 ng/ml, p<0.0001). A significant difference between sCD30 concentration at the first and third trimester of normal pregnancies was also observed (21.4 vs. 14.3 ng/ml, p<0.0001). Interestingly, the sCD30 concentration did not show any significant changes at the first trimester of normal pregnancy as compared with RPL (21.4 vs. 20.9 ng/ml) and third trimester of normal pregnancy as compared with PE (14.3 vs. 13.1 ng/ml).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The data of this study indicated that the concentration of sCD30 in serum during pregnancy period is not associated with RPL or PE and serum sCD30 is not a good correlate of Th2 immune responses in pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, e-mail: gharesifb@sums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Behrouz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gharesi-Fard
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jafarzadeh
authors.forename: Jaleh
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zolghadri
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Haghbin
mesh_terms: D000026:Abortion, Habitual / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011379:Prognosis; D058408:Th1-Th2 Balance; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017730:Ki-1 Antigen