Pro- and antiinflammatory cytokines in threatened miscarriages

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate circulating and intracellular levels of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in women with threatened miscarriage (TM) and subsequent outcome. Plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-receptors 1 and 2, TNFα, interferon gamma (IFNγ), and interleukins (IL) -6 and -10 were measured by flow cytometric bead assays in 80 women with TM: 53 women with normal outcome and 27 women who miscarried. Fluorescent antibody labeling was also performed on whole blood in a subgroup of 27 women of TM: 16 women with normal outcome and 11 women who miscarried. Monocyte expression of TNFα and circulating levels of TNFα, IFNγ, IL-10, IL-6, and TNF-R1 were significantly lower, whereas circulating levels of TNFα/IL-10, IFNγ/IL-10, and TNFα/IL-6 ratios were significantly higher, in women with TM who subsequently miscarried, compared with the women with normal outcome. An increased Th1 type of immune response, which was similar to that observed in preterm delivery, was found in TM cases that were complicated by a subsequent miscarriage.