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Updated: Jul 7, 2026
Isolation of Leukocytes from the Human Maternal-fetal Interface
Published on: May 21, 2015
Plasma of pregnant and preeclamptic women activates monocytes in vitro
M M Faas1, R B Donker, M G van Pampus
1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Transplantation Biology and Immunoendocrinology, Division of Medical Biology, University Medical Center Groningen and University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. m.m.faas@med.umcg.nl
Objective:
The objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that factors circulating in the plasma of pregnant women and women with preeclampsia activate monocytes.
Study Design:
Blood samples were taken from patients with early-onset severe preeclampsia (n = 9), healthy pregnant women (n = 9), and healthy nonpregnant women (n = 9). A monocytic cell line was incubated with the plasma for 4, 16, and 24 hours. After the incubation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 expression (protein and messenger ribonucleic acid) were measured.
Results:
Plasma of both pregnant women and women with preeclampsia, as compared with plasma from nonpregnant women, increased the mean channel brightness (MCB) of ROS after 4 hours of incubation, whereas only plasma of pregnant women increased the percentage of cells producing ROS (after 4 and 24 hours of incubation). Plasma of pregnant women and women with preeclampsia up-regulated the percentage of ICAM-1-expressing cells after 4 hours and down-regulated the percentage of ICAM-1-expressing cells and MCB after 24 hours.
Conclusion:
Plasma of both pregnant women and women with preeclampsia activated monocytes in vitro.
