Serum adenosine deaminase activity in women with pre-eclampsia

The present study investigated serum adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity and the patterns of two ADA isoenzymes, ADA1 and ADA2, and to evaluate the possible role of cell-mediated immunity as causes of the changes in ADA activity in pre-eclampsia. We measured serum activities of total ADA, ADA1 and ADA2 in pre-eclampsia (n = 22) and normal pregnancy (n = 22). Peripheral blood monocyte counts and neopterin levels, reflecting the activation of the monocyte-macrophage cell system, were also measured. In pre-eclampsia, serum total ADA and ADA2 activities were significantly increased compared with normal pregnancy (p < 0.05), which were accompanied by increases in serum neopterin levels. These results suggest that increased total ADA activity reflects increases in ADA2 activity, which may be in part related to enhanced cell-mediated immunity during pre-eclampsia.