CD1+ cells in mothers of stillborn infants with neural tube defects

In healthy individuals, CD1+ cells are found in thymic- tissue, but not in peripheral blood. The thymus, as a key organ of the neuroendocrine system, frequently shows gross abnormalities in infants with neural tube defects. In order to study the immunologic significance of fetal thymic findings, maternal T-lymphocyte subpopulations were investigated. In 10 mothers of healthy newborns, 5 mothers of stillborn infants who had no gross abnormalities, and 5 mothers of stillborn infants with neural tube defects, CD1+, CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ cells were studied. Only the mothers of the infants with open neural tube defects showed CD1+ cells in their peripheral blood.