Niwei Yan; Pingyin Lee; Huiying Jie; Canquan Zhou; Yuan Yuan
Abstract
Background: Immunotherapies targeting peripheral natural killer (pbNK) cells in unexplained recurrent miscarriage (uRM) remain controversial. We hypothesized that the change in pbNK cell count might be a result of innate immune responses rather than a cause.Objective: To explore whether the pbNK count ...
Read More
Background: Immunotherapies targeting peripheral natural killer (pbNK) cells in unexplained recurrent miscarriage (uRM) remain controversial. We hypothesized that the change in pbNK cell count might be a result of innate immune responses rather than a cause.Objective: To explore whether the pbNK count is significantly different in women testing positive than those testing negative for commonly studied autoimmune markers.Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 302 eligible patients with uRM for the antinuclear antibody (ANA) testing determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab) testing and anti-thyroglobulin antibody (Tg-Ab) testing determined by the chemiluminescent immunoassay, and pbNK cell testing determined by flow cytometry. The patients were divided into two groups according to the pbNK normal range, and the comparative analysis entailed an examination of the prevalence rates of autoantibodies within the high pbNK group and the normal pbNK group, followed by a comprehensive investigation into the potential correlations between autoantibodies and pbNK cells.Results: There was a positive association between TPO-Ab positivity and high pbNK cells (p=0.016, OR=5.097, 95% CI 1.356–19.159), while there was a negative association between ANA positivity and high pbNK cells (p=0.013, OR=0.293, 95% CI 0.111-0.773). TPO-Ab-positive patients had a higher pbNK cell count compared with TPO-Ab-negative patients, while ANA-positive patients had a lower pbNK cell count compared with ANA-negative patients.Conclusion: The change in pbNK cell count may be a consequence of immune responses, and there should be careful consideration in applying it as an immunotherapeutic index.
Mitra Rafiee; Marjan Gharagozloo; Ataollah Ghahiri; Ferdous Mehrabian; Mohammad R. Maracy; Shirin Kouhpayeh; Ina Laura Pieper; Abbas Rezaei
Volume 12, Issue 4 , December 2015, , Pages 252-262
Abstract
Background: Recurrent miscarriage (RM) affects 2-5% of pregnant women. Paternal lymphocyte immunotherapy is a common treatment for RM patients but the outcome has not been consistent. Therefore, combined therapy with other immunosuppressive drugs such as 1 a, 25-dihydroxy-vitamin-D3 (vitamin D3) may ...
Read More
Background: Recurrent miscarriage (RM) affects 2-5% of pregnant women. Paternal lymphocyte immunotherapy is a common treatment for RM patients but the outcome has not been consistent. Therefore, combined therapy with other immunosuppressive drugs such as 1 a, 25-dihydroxy-vitamin-D3 (vitamin D3) may improve the outcome. Objectives: To investigate the effect of vitamin D3 on the balance of two essential T cells subsets, T helper (Th) 17 and T regulatory (Treg) cells, which contribute to the immune tolerance during pregnancy. Methods: The expression levels of CD4 and forkhead box protein 3 (FOXP3) in Treg cells, and the expression levels of CD4 and IL- 17 in Th17 cells, were evaluated pre- and 3 months post-immunotherapy in RM patients treated with a combination of paternal lymphocytes and vitamin D3 compared with RM patients receiving lymphocyte immunotherapy alone. Results: Vitamin D3 therapy decreased the frequency of Th17 cells in addition to reducing the Th17/Treg ratio in peripheral blood of RM patients compared with the control group (p <0.05). Conclusion: Considering that RM patients have a higher Th17/Treg ratio in peripheral blood, vitamin D3 may be a candidate therapeutic approach in this disease.
Motahareh Bahadori; Saeed Zarei; Amir Hassan Zarnani; Omid Zarei; Farah Idali; Reza Hadavi; Mahmood Jeddi-Tehrani
Volume 11, Issue 2 , June 2014, , Pages 97-104
Abstract
Background: Pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and polymorphisms of their genes have been described to be involved in the pathogenesis of recurrent miscarriage (RM). Objective: To investigate the association between RM and five polymorphisms of cytokine genes, interleukin 10 (IL-10), (-592 ...
Read More
Background: Pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and polymorphisms of their genes have been described to be involved in the pathogenesis of recurrent miscarriage (RM). Objective: To investigate the association between RM and five polymorphisms of cytokine genes, interleukin 10 (IL-10), (-592 A/C, -819 C/T, -1082 A/G), IL-6 (-174 C/G) and IL-17 (-197 G/A) in Iranian women. Method: Polymerase chain reaction -restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was performed to determine the frequencies of the IL-6, IL-10 and IL-17 gene polymorphisms in 85 women with RM compared with 104 healthy controls. Results: The frequencies of IL- 10 promoter gene polymorphisms (-592 A/C and -819 C/T) were significantly higher in RM women than those in controls (p=0.003). However, no statistically significant differences were observed in the frequencies of IL-6 (-174 C/G), IL-10 (-1082 A/G) and IL-17 (-197 G/A) polymorphisms between RM women and controls. Conclusion: These results suggest that IL-10 gene polymorphism screening might have some relevance in patients with RM, a suggestion which requires further studies.
