Aspectos inmunológicos de preeclampsia

Abstract

Preeclampsia is a pathology with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. In this disease, the placenta is an organ of shock where inflammation and the immune response generate the damage that results in the characteristic clinical scenario. The classic triad in preeclampsia is made up of hypertension, edema, and proteinuria, so it is thought that the endothelium must be affected by inflammatory-immunological activity. The immune system acts in the development of pregnancy and does so at different times and regulating physiologically. Both, cellular and humoral components of the innate and acquired response have been studied in patients with preeclampsia and it has been determined that their participation is decisive in the pathophysiology of this disease. The involvement of the immune system in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia reaches a high level of complexity since it interacts with other systems (coagulation, renal, cardiovascular and endocrinological among others) thus favoring the disease. For this reason, treatment must be comprehensive, with a holistic vision of the condition and requires a multidisciplinary team that acts harmoniously to achieve the greatest therapeutic success with the least frequency of sequelae for the mother-fetus or mother-newborn dyads. During pregnancy, the so-called "immunological tolerance of pregnancy" develops, in this state of immunological tolerance the B and T cells can recognize specific antigens (for example, the paternal ones) and later activate and generate the immune response, which is why preeclampsia could being considered an autoimmune pathology, where the loss of immunological tolerance would be the cornerstone of pathophysiology, knowing how to limit or regulate this abnormal cell activation could help to propose new therapeutic approaches and thus control this disease.