Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026
Isolation of Leukocytes from the Human Maternal-fetal Interface
Published on: May 21, 2015
Peripheral blood cytokine profiling during pregnancy and post-partum periods
Thomas A Kraus1, Rhoda S Sperling, Stephanie M Engel
1Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA.
Problem:
Pregnancy requires that the maternal immune system adapt to prevent rejection of the fetal semi-allograft. This immunologic adaptation may contribute to pregnancy-related alterations in disease susceptibility and severity of infections from viral pathogens such as influenza virus.
Method Of Study:
As part of a larger study investigating the maternal systemic immune response during pregnancy, peripheral blood was collected three times during pregnancy and twice post-partum to measure serum levels of 23 cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors. This longitudinal study design allowed each woman's post-partum blood draw to serve as her own comparison, thus controlling for interpersonal variability in expression levels.
Results:
When compared to the post-partum samples, significant pregnancy-related changes in IFNγ, TNFα, VEGF, GCSF, Eotaxin, and MCP-1 expression were observed. These changes have significant immunologic effects in vivo and in culture.
Conclusion:
Pregnancy-associated changes to steady state serum cytokines may have important immunologic consequence.