Th17-related cytokine profile in preeclampsia patients: the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines as mediators of abortion or predictors of disease?

Introduction: Preeclampsia (PE) is a medical condition characterized by high blood pressure and significant amounts of protein in a pregnant woman‘s urine. If left untreated, it can develop into eclampsia and life-threatening occurrence of seizures during pregnancy that may lead to fetal and maternal deaths. Although the etiology of preeclampsia remains unknown, there are many proposed theories regarding the pathogenesis of the preeclamptic disease processes: oxidative stress, abnormal trophoblast invasion, vascular endothelial dysfunction, genetic predisposition, dietary deficiencies, and defective immunological adaptation to pregnancy. Several lines of evidence also support the concept that preeclampsia is an excessive maternal inflammatory response to normal pregnancy. We, therefore, examined IL-17 expression in the peripheral blood of patients with PE. Materials and Methods: The peripheral blood was collected from patients with PE (30 patients), normal pregnant control group (30 volunteers) and non-pregnant normal control group (30 healthy people) as control groups in hospitals affiliated to Jahrom University of Medical Sciences. Serums were then, isolated and assessed for IL-17 using by ELISA (ebiosciences kit). Results: The cytokine profile in preeclampsia shows that the production of Th17 cytokines, which induce inflammation. Maternal cytokine levels IL-17 and TGF-β are increased during preeclampsia as compared to normal pregnancy and non-pregnancy. Conclusion: Cytokines have major roles in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. It seems that circulating placental microvesicles which are shed by placenta influence on immune cells increase inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, IL-17, TGF-β, G-CSF, IFN-γ, MCP-1, MIP-1, RANTES and TNF-α. Consistent with elevated innate cytokine levels including TGF-β and IL-6 in the maternal circulation, placental tissue and blood cytokine levels from Th17 are also altered, that implies that Th17 inflammatory responses which may occur both in maternal and placental compartments. Therefore, increased inflammatory factors may lead to abortion. On the other hand, we can use inflammatory biomarkers as noninvasive predictors at the outset of diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]