PMID: 11327548May 1, 2001Paper

Plasma antiviral activity and interferon-gamma production by superantigen-stimulated lymphocytes during normal human pregnancy

American Journal of Reproductive Immunology : AJRI
G GrassoM Muscettola

Abstract

Plasma interferon (IFN)-beta levels, lymphocyte responsiveness, and evaluation of the relationship between circulating antiviral activity (AA) and IFN-gamma production were studied in pregnant women and nonpregnant age-matched controls with the objective of elucidating the downregulation of IFN-gamma production in successful pregnancy. In plasma and supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures, stimulated with staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) superantigen, from 43 pregnant women with a history of normal pregnancy and 30 healthy nonpregnant age-matched controls, levels of AA were measured in a micromethod by inhibition of the cytopathic effect (CPE) caused by vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) in the human amnionic cell line (WISH). Significantly higher plasma AA (60% was IFN-gamma and residual activity was acid-labile IFN-like) was present in pregnant women than controls. On the other hand, SEA-activated PBMCs from pregnant women produced significantly lower IFN-gamma levels than those of nonpregnant women. Furthermore, maternal plasma AA levels correlated negatively with IFN-gamma production by SEA-stimulated PBMCs. The hypothesis that successful pregnancy requires downregulation of IFN-gamma is only parti...Continue Reading

Citations

Aug 16, 2001·Journal of Clinical Oncology : Official Journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology·A Surbone

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