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NK cells and pre-eclampsia

I L Sargent1, A M Borzychowski, C W G Redman

  • 1Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK. ian.sargent@obs-gyn.ox.ac.uk

Journal of Reproductive Immunology
|May 8, 2007
PubMed

The immunological interaction between the mother and fetus has classically been thought of as one between paternal antigen and maternal T cells. However, the MHC antigen expression on human trophoblast and the immune cell populations present in the decidua suggest that this interaction primarily involves decidual NK cells rather than T cells, and this is supported by new functional studies. It is becoming apparent also that the maternal systemic immune response in pregnancy (Th1/Th2 shift) primarily involves NK cells. Aberrant NK cell activation both locally in the decidua and systemically in the maternal blood may be the cause of pre-eclampsia.

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