Original Article

The Frequency of Peripheral Blood CD4+ CD25high FoxP3+ and CD4+ CD25− FoxP3+ Regulatory T Cells in Normal Pregnancy and Pre-Eclampsia

  1. Gergely Toldi1,
  2. Shigeru Saito2,
  3. Tomoko Shima2,
  4. Amrita Halmos3,
  5. Zoltán Veresh3,
  6. Barna Vásárhelyi4,
  7. János Rigó Jr3,
  8. Attila Molvarec3,*

Article first published online: 17 APR 2012

DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0897.2012.01145.x

Issue

American Journal of Reproductive Immunology

American Journal of Reproductive Immunology

Volume 68, Issue 2, pages 175–180, August 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

Toldi G, Saito S, Shima T, Halmos A, Veresh Z, Vásárhelyi B, Rigó J Jr, Molvarec A. The frequency of peripheral blood CD4+ CD25high FoxP3+ and CD4+ CD25− FoxP3+ regulatory T cells in normal pregnancy and pre-eclampsia. Am J Reprod Immunol 2012

Author Information

  1. 1

    First Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

  2. 2

    Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan

  3. 3

    First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

  4. 4

    Department of Laboratory Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

*Correspondence
Attila Molvarec, Hangya lépcső 9, Budapest H-1121, Hungary.
E-mail: molvarec@freemail.hu

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 12 JUL 2012
  2. Article first published online: 17 APR 2012
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 23 MAR 2012
  4. Manuscript Received: 6 FEB 2012

Funded by

  • OTKA. Grant Numbers: 101661, TÁMOP-4.2.2.-08/1/KMR-2008-0004

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Keywords:

  • CD25;
  • FoxP3;
  • pre-eclampsia;
  • pregnancy;
  • Treg

Problem

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play an important role in the development of pregnancy-specific immune tolerance. We aimed to determine the peripheral frequency of a recently described Treg subpopulation, the CD4+ CD25− FoxP3+ Treg subset, and its correlation with the conventional CD4+ CD25high FoxP3+ Tregs in normal pregnancy (NP) and pre-eclampsia (PE) compared to non-pregnant (non-P) women. We also examined the proportion of the activated CD4+ CD25high FoxP3high Treg subset within conventional Treg cells.

Method

We took peripheral blood samples from 20 PE, 20 NP, and 12 non-P women and determined the frequency of the above Treg subsets using flow cytometry.

Results

The frequency of conventional CD4+ CD25high FoxP3+ Tregs and activated CD4+ CD25high FoxP3high Tregs, but also that of non-conventional CD4+ CD25− FoxP3+ Tregs was higher in NP compared to non-P women, but lower again in PE, reaching comparable levels to the non-P group. The ratios of CD4+ CD25high FoxP3+ and CD4+ CD25− FoxP3+ Treg subsets were constant in all three investigated groups.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that the frequency of conventional and non-conventional Tregs alters simultaneously, and the presence in circulation of both of these Treg subsets is similarly important in the adequate development of pregnancy-specific immune tolerance.

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