Proportional change of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in decidua and peripheral blood in unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion patients
Received 20 September 2006; received in revised form 13 March 2007; accepted 13 March 2007. published online 01 June 2007.
Objective
To investigate the proportional changes of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in peripheral blood and decidua in unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA) and normal pregnant (NP) women.
Design
Prospective, case–control study.
Setting
Large public hospital in a major city in China.
Patient(s)
Twenty-five URSA patients and 34 normal, early pregnant, control women.
Intervention(s)
Measurements of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in decidua and peripheral blood.
Main Outcome Measure(s)
The proportion of CD4+CD25bright regulatory T cells; the percentage of CD25bright cells in the CD4+ T-cell population.
Result(s)
The proportions of CD4+CD25bright T cells in both decidua and peripheral blood in URSA patients were statistically significantly lower than those in control women. Meanwhile, the percentage of CD25bright cells in the CD4+ T-cell population in decidua was statistically significantly lower in URSA patients than in control women. The percentage of CD25bright cells in the CD4+ T-cell population in decidua was statistically significantly higher than that in peripheral blood in control women, whereas the difference was not significant in patients who have URSA.
Conclusion(s)
Human CD4+CD25bright T cells play a major role in tolerating conceptus antigens and therefore may contribute to the maintenance of pregnancy. The data suggest that CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells may be a novel target in URSA therapy.
aDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
bShanghai Institute of Immunology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
Correspondence to: Qide Lin, M.D., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 145 Shandong Mid Road, Shanghai, 200001, China (FAX: 86-21-63730455).
Hui Yang and Lihua Qiu contributed equally to the work and should both be considered first authors.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Shanghai) (30530740/C030304).
ABSTRACT