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Updated: Apr 8, 2026
Isolation of Leukocytes from the Murine Tissues at the Maternal-Fetal Interface
Published on: May 21, 2015
[Expression of progesterone-induced blocking factor in severe preeclampsia and its association with immune tolerance
Liang Lin1, Yunpeng Huang, Yanhong Yu
11Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Southern Medical University affiliated Nanfang Hospital, Guangzhou 510515, China; 2Provincial Clinical Institute of Fujian Medical University , Fuzhou 350001, China.
Objective:
To explore progesterone-induced blocking factor (PIBF) expression in the placenta and blood of patients with severe preeclampsia and its relationship with immune tolerance imbalance.
Methods:
Forty-seven patients admitted between January and December, 2012 were enrolled in this study, including 25 patients with early-onset severe preeclampsia (EOPE) and 22 with late-onset severe preeclampsia (LOPE), with 25 women with normal pregnancy serving as control group. The antenatal blood and postpartum placenta were collected for immunohistochemical staining to detect PIBF expression in the placenta and for testing serum PIBF level using ELISA. Flow cytometry was used to detect the percentage of circulating Th1 and Th2 cells and the Th1/Th2 ratio was calculated.
Results:
PIBF was expressed in decidual cells, syncytiotrophoblasts and partial cytotrophablasts. The serum PIBF levels were 213.58 ± 44.93 ng/ml in EOPE group, 243.00∓61.19 ng/ml in LOPE group and 273.91 ± 48.57 ng/ml in control group. There were significant differences in serum PIBF, blood Th1/Th2 and placenta PIBF-IOD among the 3 groups (P<0.05). EOPE group had significantly lower serum PIBF, lower llacental PIBF quantity (PIBF-IOD) and higher blood Th1/Th2 than the control group (P<0.05). Serum PIBF in women with severe preeclampsia was positively correlated with placenta PIBF-IOD and negatively with blood Th1/Th2 ratio (P<0.05), but a negative correlation between serum PIBF and 24-hour urinary protein was found only in EOPE group (P<0.05).
Conclusion:
The immune tolerance imbalance mediated by PIBF may participate in the pathogenesis of severe preeclampsia. PIBF, the immune suppressor secreted by lymphocytes of pregnancy women, is also a protective factor against severe preeclampsia, which is expected to be a new target in therapy.
