Immunologic variables in normal pregnancy and spontaneous abortion.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study was to establish if pregnancy belongs to pathological situations, if it changes SIL-2R, sCD4 and sCD8 levels, and to verify if these levels have a prognostic value in the evaluation of pregnancy.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

Thirty pregnant women in the first trimester of pregnancy were studied. Ten of them had a normal evolution of pregnancy, ten had a threatened abortion with a bad outcome, and ten had an ectopic pregnancy. We determined SIL-2R, sCD4, and sCD8 levels in the serum and in the amniotic fluid in 10 pregnant women in their second trimester, and in 10 healthy women without pregnancy (control group).

RESULTS

We found that (a) 50% of the pregnant women in their first trimester had abnormal SIL-2R values, and 90% had abnormal sCD8 values; (b) 9/10 women with threatened abortion and bad outcome had abnormal SIL-2R values; (c) SIL-2R levels were significantly higher in the amniotic fluid than in the serum (P <.001).

CONCLUSION

Our results sustain the opinion that pregnancy must be included among those situations that increase SIL-2R, sCD4, and sCD8 levels. SIL-2R levels greater than 1,300 U/mL carried a bad prognosis in the evolution of pregnancy.