title: Changes in the Blood Serum Levels of the Costimulatory Soluble B7-H4 Molecule in Pregnant Women During the Peripartal Phase.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  B7-H4, a transmembrane protein that negatively regulates T lymphocytes, seems to play a role in the suppression of the im\mune response at the maternal-fetal interface. The aim of this study was to compare the blood serum concentration levels of soluble B7-H4 (sB7-H4) prepartal and postpartal in both women who experienced spontaneous onset of labor and those who underwent elective cesarian section.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood was obtained from 30 prepartal and postpartal women who delivered at the University Hospital of Essen between 2011 and 2012. These patients were further divided into two subgroups depending on the advancement of labor. The sB7-H4 blood serum concentration levels of the women in the groups were then determined by ELISA (BIOZOL, Eching, Germany).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In women who underwent elective cesarian section, a significant increase in sB7-H4 blood serum concentration levels occurred postpartal, while in women who experienced spontaneous onset of labor, no differences between prepartal and postpartal concentration levels were observed. The sB7-H4 blood serum concentration levels on the day after delivery in the women who experienced spontaneous labor and those who underwent elective cesarian section were comparable; however, higher blood serum concentration levels of sB7-H4 were observed prepartal in women with spontaneous onset of labor compared to those found in the women about to undergo elective cesarian section.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These changes in sB7-H4 blood serum concentration levels suggest that this protein is involved in immunological changes associated with the spontaneous onset of labor and post-delivery homeostasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Pawel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mach
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gellhaus
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Oncology and Gynecological Nursing, Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
authors.forename: Lukasz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wicherek
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (IMIBE), University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Boerge
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kimmig
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kasimir-Bauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Köninger
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007743:Labor, Obstetric / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D058725:Peripartum Period / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D060907:V-Set Domain-Containing T-Cell Activation Inhibitor 1 / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D060907:V-Set Domain-Containing T-Cell Activation Inhibitor 1
keywords: Labor; pregnancy; soluble B7-H4