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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Isolation of Leukocytes from the Murine Tissues at the Maternal-Fetal Interface
Published on: May 21, 2015
The etiological role of allogeneic fetal rejection in pre-eclampsia
Haruki Nishizawa1, Kiyoshi Hasegawa, Machiko Suzuki
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fujita Health University, School of Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan. nharuki@fujita-hu.ac.jp
Problem:
It has been demonstrated that allogeneic fetal rejection in normal pregnancy is prevented by placental indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO). Further, an immunological etiology has been implicated in pre-eclampsia.
Method Of Study:
We examined the differences in placental IDO activity between normal and pre-eclamptic pregnancies.
Results:
IDO mRNA expression and enzyme activity levels in the placenta were low in patients with severe pre-eclampsia. The enzyme activity also inversely correlates with the blood pressure of the patients. In the placentas from severe pre-eclampsia, IDO immunoreactivity was low, whereas regional T-cell infiltration was observed reciprocally proportional to the IDO activity.
Conclusion:
Our findings implicate a potential role for IDO activity and a maternal immunological reaction against an allogeneic fetus in the etiology of pre-eclampsia.
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