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Detection of interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and interleukin-11 in plasma from women with spontaneous abortion
Y Koumantaki1, I Matalliotakis, S Sifakis
1Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Objective:
To investigate the role of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-11 in the immune-regulatory mechanisms involved in the spontaneous abortion of the first trimester of pregnancy.
Study Design:
Plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-11 were determined in 68 women who had a spontaneous abortion of unknown aetiology during the first trimester of pregnancy. They were compared with the corresponding levels of 73 age-matched pregnant women who had an uneventful pregnancy, and 52 age-matched non-pregnant women. All enrolled women presented without any severe disease, syndrome or recent infection. Cytokine levels were measured by a sensitive sandwich enzyme-linked immunoassay.
Results:
The women with spontaneous abortion had significantly decreased plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-11 compared to those with normal pregnancies (P<0.05). The non-pregnant women had no detectable cytokine levels.
Conclusions:
The reduced plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-11 in women with spontaneous abortion may be related to the underlying aetiopathogenetic mechanisms, however, there is no sufficient evidence for their use as predictive markers of pregnancy outcome.