title: The Frequency of Peripheral Blood CD4+FoxP3+Regulatory T Cells in Women With Pre-eclampsia and Those With High-risk Factors for Pre-eclampsia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We compared the frequency of peripheral blood Treg cells in women with pre-eclampsia (PE) and in those without, and investigated whether the frequency of Treg cells in women with high-risk factor for PE changed during pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined the frequency of CD4+FoxP3+Treg cells in the peripheral blood using flow cytometry. Eleven women with PE and 10 women without PE (controls) were included. Every control had any risk factors for PE, such as high blood pressure, bilateral notching or a past history of PE or gestational hypertension. Blood sampling was conducted 1-3 times in the controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences were observed in the frequency of Treg cells between women with PE and the controls [mean ± SE (%): 5.74 ± 0.91 versus 5.48 ± 0.94, p = 0.843]. In five controls with serial sampling, the frequency of Treg cells significantly decreased from 5.83 ± 1.20 to 2.99 ± 0.54 (p = 0.046) (week of the first sampling to that of the last sampling [mean ± SD]: 21.5 ± 1.6 weeks to 31.2 ± 2.5 weeks).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The frequency of Treg cells in women with PE was almost identical to that in the controls. The frequency of Treg cells in the controls was reduced by half from the second trimester to the third trimester. These results suggested that the levels of Treg cells in a high-risk pregnant cohort were decreased to those in women with PE in the third trimester irrespective of the occurrence of PE.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Jichi Medical University School of Medicine , Tochigi , Japan .
authors.forename: Shiho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagayama
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Jichi Medical University School of Medicine , Tochigi , Japan .
authors.forename: Akihide
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohkuchi
authors.affiliation: b Division of Inflammation Research , Center for Molecular Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke , Tochigi , Japan .|c Laboratory of Animal Reproduction, Department of Agriculture , Tokyo University of Agriculture , Atsugi , Kanagawa , Japan , and.
authors.forename: Koumei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shirasuna
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Jichi Medical University School of Medicine , Tochigi , Japan .
authors.forename: Kayo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Jichi Medical University School of Medicine , Tochigi , Japan .
authors.forename: Hirotada
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Jichi Medical University School of Medicine , Tochigi , Japan .
authors.forename: Chikako
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hirashima
authors.affiliation: d Division of Cell and Molecular Medicine, Center for Molecular Medicine , Jichi Medical University , Tochigi , Japan.
authors.forename: Asuka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sakata
authors.affiliation: d Division of Cell and Molecular Medicine, Center for Molecular Medicine , Jichi Medical University , Tochigi , Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.affiliation: b Division of Inflammation Research , Center for Molecular Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke , Tochigi , Japan .
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , Jichi Medical University School of Medicine , Tochigi , Japan .
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsubara
keywords: Flow cytometry; High risk; Pre-eclampsia; Pregnancy; Regulatory T cells