Cell-mediated immunity in human pregnancy: Changes in lymphocyte reactivity during pregnancy and postpartum

The function of thymus-dependent lymphocytes (T lymphocytes) was studied in women during pregnancy and labor and postpartum by evaluating the blastogenesis of peripheral lymphocytes, which were stimulated with phytohemagglutin-P (PHA-P) in both whole-blood semimicroculture and purifed lymphocyte culture. Data from 353 random samples (203 women) and 50 serial specimens from 10 women revealed that PHA-P induced-lymphocyte blastogenesis was significantly (p less than 0.005) reduced during pregnancy and labor but rapidly returned to normal several days after artificial termination in the early stage of pregnancy as well as after full-term delivery. These results indicate that the T-lymphocyte function in maternal peripheral blood is depressed by causes related to pregnancy. It seems very likely that depressed T-lymphocyte function during pregnancy is caused by inhibitory factors in the blood plasma derived from the feto-placental unit. Questions relating to the inhibitory factors in maternal plasma are discussed.