Detection of Immunoregulatory Factors in Retroplacental Serum in Human Pregnancy

Abstract

Retroplacental serum (RPS) obtained from pregnant women at term deliveries was studied for regulatory effects on T-lymphocyte proliferation and for pregnancy-associated substances and compared with peripheral serum (PS) of the same donor. Proliferative response to phytohemagglutinin and alloantigens in RPS was lower than that in PS. RPS contained higher levels of human placental lactogen, progesterone, estradiol, and prostaglandin E2 than of PS. However, there were no differences in concentrations of pregnancy-associated alpha 2-glycoprotein, pregnancy-specific beta 1-glycoprotein, prostaglandin F2 alpha, alpha-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin, cortisol, carcinoembryonic antigen, and immunoglobulins between RPS and PS. The amounts of human placental lactogen, progesterone, or prostaglandin E2 seen in RPS did not inhibit T-cell proliferation. Mixtures of various doses of these three substances were still not inhibitory. Thus, the suppressive activity of RPS could not be explained by these pregnancy-associated substances, but a possible involvement of unknown immunoregulatory factors at fetomaternal interface might be suggested.