Interleukin-6 and soluble interleukin-6 receptor serum levels in recurrent spontaneous abortion women immunized with paternal white cells.

PROBLEM

Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) could be interpreted as the cause for the incapacity of the mother to recognize paternal antigens to produce the desired protective response. The practise of alloimmunization was introduced in an attempt to induce in the mother the production of an alloimmune response; some authors proposed an association between cytokines and RSA. The production of IL6 and its soluble receptor (sIL6R) before and after lymphocyte immunotherapy was evaluated in sera of 33 patients suffering from two or more RSA, and in sera of 47 women with normal pregnancy.

METHOD OF STUDY

The immunization of RSA patients was achieved by injection of four doses of 10(5) mononuclear cells (MNC) from the husband, at weekly intervals, before pregnancy. The IL6 and sIL6R levels were measured using sandwich ELISAs and the results evaluated by Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison-tests.

RESULTS

Our data show no significant differences between IL6 and sIL6R serum levels of normal pregnant women and RSA pregnant women with white-cell immunization before pregnancy. In contrast, the sera of pregnant RSA patients without allogeneic therapy show higher values. We also found significant differences between IL6 levels in non-pregnant RSA women with and without immunotherapy.

CONCLUSION

These results show that the alloimmunization with paternal white cells leads the serum IL6 and sIL6R-levels to the values observed in the course of normal pregnancy, suggesting a role for IL6 and sIL6R in the modulation of the immune response's quality.