title: Regulatory T-cell Subpopulations in Severe or Early-onset Preeclampsia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A deficiency in regulatory T (Treg) cells causing reduced immune regulatory capacity has been proposed in preeclampsia.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Utilizing recent advances in flow cytometry phenotyping, we aimed to assess whether a deficiency of Treg subpopulations occurs in preeclampsia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six-color flow cytometry was used for Treg phenotyping in 18 preeclamptic women (one early-onset, one severe and 16 both), 20 women with normal pregnancy, and 20 non-pregnant controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No differences were found in major Treg populations including CD127(low) CD25(+) /CD127(ow) FOXP3(+) , resting (FOXP3(dim) CD45RA(+) ), and activated (FOXP3(bright) CD45RA(-) ) Treg cells, whereas preeclamptic women showed increased CTLA-4(+) and CCR4(+) proportions within resting/activated Treg populations. Corticosteroid treatment prior to blood sampling (n = 10) affected the distribution of Treg populations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although we found no major alterations in circulating Treg frequencies, differences in CTLA-4(+) and CCR4(+) frequencies suggest a migratory defect of Treg cells in preeclampsia. Corticosteroid treatment should be taken into account when evaluating Treg cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, County Hospital Ryhov, Jönköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boij
authors.affiliation: Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mjösberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Judit
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Svensson-Arvelund
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hjorth
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.|Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Helsingborg Hospital, Helsingborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Leif
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Matthiesen
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Jenmalm
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.|Department of Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ernerudh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000328:Adult; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000276:immunology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D054398:Receptors, CCR4 / Q000378:metabolism*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; C515354:CCR4 protein, human; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; C556706:CTLA4 protein, human; D054398:Receptors, CCR4
keywords: Early-onset preeclampsia; preeclampsia; pregnancy; regulatory T cells