American journal of reproductive immunology : AJRI
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Am. J. Reprod. Immunol. · Feb 2012
Circulating cell-derived microparticles in severe preeclampsia and in fetal growth restriction.
The behavior of the circulating microparticles (cMP) in severe preeclampsia (PE) and fetal growth restriction (FGR) is disputed. METHOD OF STUDY Non-matched case-control study. Seventy cases of severe PE/HELLP/FGR were compared to 38 healthy pregnant women. Twenty healthy non-pregnant women acted as a control. cMP were analyzed using flow cytometry. Results are given as total (annexin-A5-ANXA5+), platelet (CD41+), leukocyte (CD45+), endothelial (CD144+CD31+//CD41-), and CD41-negative cMP/μL of plasma. Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) were analyzed through usual methods. ⋯ Normal pregnancy is accompanied by endothelial and platelet cell activation. Endothelial cell activation has been shown in PE but not in isolated FGR. In PE, aPL may contribute to endothelial and possibly to leukocyte cell activation.
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Am. J. Reprod. Immunol. · Feb 2012
The Treg/Th17 imbalance in Toxoplasma gondii-infected pregnant mice.
To evaluate whether impaired Treg/Th17 balance exists in the pregnant mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii. ⋯ TheTreg/Th17 imbalance exists in the pregnant mice infected with T. gondii, which is associated with the expression of related cytokine and key transcription factors. This result suggests that the embryo loss caused by this parasite may be associated with a reduced ratio of Treg to Th17 cell number.