The Association of Circulatory Cytokines (IL-6 and IL-10) Level with Spontaneous Abortion-a Preliminary Observation

Successful pregnancy or its outcome depends upon various endogenous and exogenous determinants including immune status, and cytokines are one of the regulators which might play a vital role in the maintenance of pregnancy. The study was carried out to determine the role of cytokines, i.e., interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-10 (IL-10), in spontaneous abortion (SAb) cases with reference to control (women without SAb). One hundred twenty-six subjects (63 women with SAb cases and 63 control women without SAb and bearing at least one child) were enrolled. Out of the 63 SAb cases, 31 women from Outpatient Department (with history of SAb cases, i.e., one, two, or more) and 32 from the Gynecology ward (current SAb cases) were enrolled. The cytokines (IL-6 and IL-10) were measured by ELISA method using commercially available kit. The mean IL-6 level was higher among women with SAb cases, recent SAb and recurrent SAb cases versus controls, history of SAb and less than 2 SAb cases respectively, while an inverse pattern of variations was observed for IL-10 level. The Spearman's correlation revealed that the IL-6 was positively correlated while IL-10 was negatively correlated with number of incidences of SAbs. The data of women with recent SAb and childbirth were categorized into four IL quartiles and found that the highest % of control and lowest % of SAb subjects were in second quartile of IL-6 while highest % of control and lowest % of SAb subjects were in the fourth (high) quartile of IL-10 level group. A multiple regression model showed that with elevation in IL-6, there was an elevation in number of SAb cases and an inverse relationship was observed with regard to IL-10. The results indicate positive role of IL-10 and undesirable role of IL-6 on pregnancy outcomes. Further, quartiles' distribution suggests that high levels of IL-10 might be necessary for the effective pregnancy outcome, but more data are needed to substantiate the present findings.