Document Type : Short Paper

Authors

• Narges Roomandeh ^{1, 2}
• AboTaleb Saremi ²
• Javad Arasteh ³
• Fatemeh Pak ⁴
• Majid Mirmohammadkhani ⁵
• Parviz Kokhaei ^{6, 7}
• Ahad Zare ²

¹ Student Research Committee and Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan,

² Sarem Fertility and Infertility Research Center (SAFIR) and Sarem Cell Research Center (SCRC), Sarem Women’s Hospital, Tehran, Iran

³ Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch, Tehran,

⁴ Cancer Research Center and Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran,

⁵ Research Center for Social Determinants of Health, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran

⁶ Cancer Research Center and Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine

⁷ Immune and Gene Therapy Lab, Cancer Centre Karolinska, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract

Background: Increased evidences have shown that unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA) is associated with inflammatory responses and breakage of immunological autotolerance. Therefore, the balance between Th17 and Treg cells may elucidate the pathophysiology of URSA. Objective: To investigate the serum concentration of regulatory and inflammatory cytokines associated with Treg and Th17 in both normal and URSA females. Methods: Forty-six women with URSA and 28 non-pregnant control women with at least one successful pregnancy were included. Serum was obtained from both groups and stored at -70°C. The serum concentrations of IL-17, IL-21, IL-22, IL-10, and TGF-β were quantitatively determined by ELISA. Results: The levels of IL-17, IL-21, and IL-22 in sera were significantly higher (P<0.001, P=0.01 and P<0.001, respectively) and TGF-β serum concentration was significantly lower (P=0.02) in URSA women compared with normal controls. Conclusion: Our results suggest that enhancement in Th17-associated cytokine levels and reduction in TGF-β may be one of the factors involved in URSA.