Studies on activity of NK cells in preeclampsia patients

The activity of the NK cells in patients with preeclampsia was studied to investigate the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. By using MTT and 51Cr releasing technique, the proliferation and killing ability of the NK cells in maternal and umbilical blood from preeclampsia patients (n = 18) and normal third trimester pregnant women (n = 18) were detected. The NK-92 cell line was as the positive control. The results showed that the NK cell counts of umbilical blood in preeclampsia patients and normal third trimester pregnant women were significantly greater than those of maternal blood (both P<0.05). Compared with that in normal third trimester pregnant women, the proliferative ability of the NK cells in preeclampsia patients was apparently increased (P<0.05). Compared with that in maternal blood, the proliferative ability of the NK cells in umbilical blood from both preeclampsia patients and normal third trimester pregnant women was dramatically increased. The killing ability of the NK cells in preeclampsia patients was significantly higher than that in normal third trimester pregnant women (P <0.05). It was suggested that both number and function of the NK cells in preeclampsia women were increased, and that in umbilical blood was greater than that in maternal blood, speculating that the function of the NK cells may affect the maintenance of the maternal and fetal immune tolerance during pregnancy.