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Pregnancy is an immune challenge to the maternal immune system. The effects of pregnancy on maternal immunity and particularly on memory T cells during and after pregnancy are not fully known. This observational study aims to show the short term and the long term effects of pregnancy on the constitution, size and activation status of peripheral human memory T-lymphocyte populations. Effector memory (EM) and central memory (CM) T-lymphocytes were analyzed using flow cytometry of peripheral blood from 14 nulligravid, 12 primigravid and 15 parous women that were on average 18 months postpartum. The short term effects were shown by the significantly higher CD4+ EM cell and activated CD4+ memory cell proportions in primigravid women compared to nulligravid women. The persistent effects found in this study were the significantly higher proportions of CD4+ EM, CD4+ CM and activated memory T cells in parous women compared to nulligravid women. In contrast to CD4+ cells, activation status of CD8+ memory cells did not differ between the groups. This study shows that pregnancy persistently affects the pre-pregnancy CD4+ memory cell pool in human peripheral blood. During pregnancy, CD4+ T-lymphocytes might differentiate into EM cells followed by persistent higher proportions of CD4+ CM and EM cells postpartum. The persistent effects of pregnancy on memory T cells found in this study support the hypothesis that memory T cells are generated during pregnancy and that these cells could be involved in the lower complication risks in multiparous pregnancies in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine if women with preeclampsia or delivering small for gestational age (SGA) babies are more likely to have a short duration of sexual relationship compared with those who have uncomplicated pregnancies. In a prospective cohort study, 2507 nulliparous women with singleton pregnancies were interviewed at 15±1 weeks gestation about the duration of their sexual relationship with the biological father. Short duration of sexual relationship (≤6 months, ≤3 months, or first intercourse) was compared between women with preeclampsia (N =131) or SGA babies (N =263) and those with uncomplicated pregnancies (N =1462). Short duration of sexual relationship was more common in women with preeclampsia compared with uncomplicated pregnancies (≤6 months 14.5% versus 6.9%, adjusted odds ratio [adjOR] 1.88, 95% CI 1.05–3.36; ≤3 months 6.9% versus 2.5%, adjOR 2.32, 95% CI 1.03–5.25; first intercourse 1.5% versus 0.5%, adjOR 5.75, 95% CI 1.13–29.3). Although the total number of semen exposures was lower in SGA, SGA was not associated with a shorter duration of sexual relationship. On post hoc analysis, the subgroup of SGA with abnormal uterine artery Doppler at 20 weeks (N =58) were more likely to have had a short sexual relationship compared with controls (≤6 months adjOR 2.33, 95% CI 1.09–4.98; ≤3 months adjOR 3.22, 95% CI 1.18–8.79; first intercourse adjOR 8.02, 95% CI 1.58–40.7). We conclude that compared to uncomplicated pregnancies, short duration of sexual relationship is more common in women who develop preeclampsia and women with abnormal uterine artery Doppler waveforms who deliver an SGA baby. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]