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Peripheral K cells in normal human pregnancy: decrease during pregnancy and increase after delivery
1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.
Peripheral blood levels of K cells were measured in normal pregnant and post-partum women by a plaque-forming cell technique that detects K cells on the basis of their activity of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). Peripheral K cells decreased throughout normal pregnancy (n = 46; 7.8 +/- 3.4%, P less than 0.01; 0.13 +/- 0.08 X 10(9)/l, P less than 0.001) and increased in the post-partum period (n = 17; 14.2 +/- 6.1%, P less than 0.05; 0.32 +/- 0.20 X 10(9)/l, P less than 0.01) in comparison with those in normal non-pregnant controls (n = 29; 10.5 +/- 4.2%; 0.20 +/- 0.09 X 10(9)/l). These findings suggest that a decrease of K cells during pregnancy may contribute in part to maternal acceptance of the fetal allograft and that the post-partum increase of K cells may represent a post-partum increase of cell-mediated cytotoxicity, which may contribute to natural defense against puerperal infection.
Peripheral blood levels of K cells were measured in normal pregnant and post-partum women by a plaque-forming cell technique that detects K cells on the basis of their activity of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). Peripheral K cells decreased throughout normal pregnancy (n = 46; 7.8 +/- 3.4%, P less than 0.01; 0.13 +/- 0.08 X 10(9)/l, P less than 0.001) and increased in the post-partum period (n = 17; 14.2 +/- 6.1%, P less than 0.05; 0.32 +/- 0.20 X 10(9)/l, P less than 0.01) in comparison with those in normal non-pregnant controls (n = 29; 10.5 +/- 4.2%; 0.20 +/- 0.09 X 10(9)/l). These findings suggest that a decrease of K cells during pregnancy may contribute in part to maternal acceptance of the fetal allograft and that the post-partum increase of K cells may represent a post-partum increase of cell-mediated cytotoxicity, which may contribute to natural defense against puerperal infection.