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Updated: Aug 8, 2026
Isolation of Leukocytes from the Human Maternal-fetal Interface
Published on: May 21, 2015
Preeclampsia is associated with decreased placental interleukin-6 production
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298, USA.
Objective:
The etiology of preeclampsia is poorly understood, but may involve abnormal fetal-maternal immunologic interactions. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a multifunctional immunologic cytokine that is normally produced by the placenta during pregnancy. Recent studies have shown that amniotic fluid IL-6 is decreased in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia. Consequently, this study was designed to test the hypothesis that placental IL-6 production is decreased in preeclampsia.
Methods:
Placental explants from normal (N = 6) and preeclamptic (N = 6) pregnancies were cultured in vitro, and the media were sampled at 0, 2, 6, 16, 28, and 48 hours. Production rates of IL-6 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and relative IL-6 mRNA expression was measured by Northern and dot blot analyses.
Results:
Production rates of IL-6 were 2.3-fold lower in preeclamptic placentas than in normal placentas, at 146 pg/microgram/hour versus 341 pg/microgram/hour (P < .05). However, relative steady-state IL-6 mRNA expression was identical in preeclamptic and normal placentas.
Conclusions:
Placental IL-6 production is decreased in preeclampsia. The decrease in placental IL-6 production and secretion in preeclampsia is regulated by a post-transcriptional mechanism.
