Acetaminophen application during murine pregnancy impairs pathways of maternal adaptation to pregnancy

Abstract

the escape mechanisms of the semiallogeneic fetus from maternal immune system recognition and rejection. Since an exaggerate systemic inflammatory response is known to be a feature of pre-eclampsia (PET), aim of this study was to investigate the possible abnormal expression of MHC class II molecules, namely HLA-DR, in circulating syncytiotrophoblast microparticles (STBMs) from pre-eclamptic patients. Methods: STBMs obtained by dual placental perfusion after caesarean section from 9 women with early onset (≤34 weeks of gestation) PET (EOPET), 7 women with late onset (>34 weeks of gestation) PET (LOPET) and 12 women with uncomplicated pregnancies were analysed for HLA-DR and the syncytiotrophoblastspecific placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) expression by flow cytometry. Results: STBMs from women with EOPET showed a significant expression of HLA-DR coupled with PLAP compared to controls (P=0.03). No significant difference was found between either controls and LOPET (P=0.24) or EOPET and LOPET (P=0.35) (Fig. 1). Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first observation of an aberrant expression of HLA-DR in STBMs fromwomenwith EOPET. This finding might lead the way to the identification of a novel immunological mechanism representing a co-cause or a consequence of the exaggerate pro-inflammatory status that is a feature of PET. More studies are needed to confirm this observation in a larger cohort of patients and to define the possible functional role of aberrant HLA-DR expressed on STBMs spread in maternal circulation in PET.