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Updated: Aug 14, 2026
Purification of HLA-G+ Extravillous Trophoblasts from Human Term Placental Tissues for Phenotyping and Functional Analysis
Published on: March 13, 2026
Pre-eclampsia is not associated with changes in the levels of regulatory T cells in peripheral blood
Steffen Paeschke1, Frank Chen, Nadja Horn
1Institute of Medical Immunology, Charité, Medical University of Berlin, Germany.
Problem:
The acceptance of the semi-allogeneic fetus within the maternal environment requires tolerance mechanisms not fully characterized yet. Normal pregnancy is known to be associated with a Th2 profile. Furthermore, regulatory T cells (Tregs) were proposed to regulate the Th2/Th1 balance at early stages of pregnancy. Treg may avoid the shift to a Th1 profile, thus preventing miscarriage. Accordingly, spontaneous abortion is characterized by a Th1 dominance and diminished levels of Treg. The major aim of the present work was to investigate if pre-eclampsia, a late immunological complication of pregnancy, is characterized by similar hallmarks.
Method Of Study:
We measured the surface antigens CD4, CD25, CD8 and CTLA4 in peripheral blood from patients suffering from pre-eclampsia (n = 8) and age-matched patients undergoing normal pregnancies (n = 9) by four-color flow cytometry.
Results:
We were not able to find any significant differences in the levels of CD4(+), CD25(+), CD8(+), CTLA4, CD4(+)/CD25(+), CD4(+)/CD25(bright), CD4(+)/CTLA4, CD25(+)/CTLA4, CD4(+)/CD25(+)/CTLA4, CD8(+)/CD25(+), CD8(+)/CTLA4 or CD8(+)/CD25(+)/CTLA4 cell subsets.
Conclusions:
Our data confirm comparable number of Tregs during pre-eclampsia and normal pregnancy in peripheral blood. Other regulatory mechanisms might be involved during late pregnancy.
