Enhanced maternal anti-fetal immunity contributes to the severity of hypertensive disorder complicating pregnancy. Am J Reprod Immunol 2010 Problem  The aim of this study was to evaluate how fetal monocyte activation and maternal anti-fetal antigen-specific antibody-secreting cells (ASC) affect the severity of hypertensive disorder complicating Selleck BMN 673 pregnancy (HDCP).

Method of study  Forty-six healthy third-trimester pregnant women and 20 patients with gestational hypertension, 20 with mild pre-ecalmpsia and another 20 with severe pre-eclampsia were included in the study. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) release from cord blood monocytes was examined by intracellular cytokine staining and flow cytometric analysis. Moreover, the maternal anti-fetal antigen-specific ASC were detected by enzyme-linked immunospot assay. Results  A significantly increased percentage of IL-6-positive monocytes were detected in the cord blood of study

groups compared with the controls (P < 0.01). The percentage of IL-6-positive monocytes was increased as the disease progressed (P < 0.05). There were more anti-fetal antigen-specific ASC in the study groups than those MG-132 concentration in the controls (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the anti-fetal antigen-specific ASC showed difference in gestational hypertensive and severe pre-eclamptic groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion  We conclude that the fetal monocyte activation and the increase in maternal anti-fetal antigen-specific ASC were related to the incidence and severity of HDCP. These results provide both indirect and direct evidence for the occurrence of exaggerated maternal humoral immunity against the fetal antigens in HDCP. "
“Many pathogens are initially encountered in the gut, where the decision is made to mount an immune response or induce tolerance. The mesentric lymph node (mLN) science has been shown to be involved in immune response and much more in oral tolerance induction. Furthermore, using an in vivo transplantation model, we showed recently that lymph node (LN) stromal cells can affect T-cell function and influence the IgA response by supporting a site-specific environment. To elucidate the importance

of LN stromal cells for tolerance induction, mLN or peripheral LN were transplanted into mice (mLNtx or pLNtx) and oral tolerance was induced via ovalbumin. A reduced delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response was detected in pLNtx compared to mLNtx mice. Reduced IL-10 expression, reduced percentages of Tregs, and increased proportions of B cells were identified within the pLNtx. The increase of B cells resulted in a specific immunoglobulin production undetectable in mLNtx. Moreover, transferred IgG+ cells of tolerized peripheral LN induced a strong reduction of the delayed-type hypersensitivity response, whereas CD4+ cells were less efficient. Thus, stromal cells have a high impact on creating a unique environment.