Koumantaki Y, Matalliotakis I, Sifakis S, Kyriakou D, Neonaki M, Goymenou A, Koumantakis E
Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2001 Sep;98(1):66-71. doi: 10.1016/s0301-2115(01)00289-5.
To investigate the role of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-11 in the immune-regulatory mechanisms involved in the spontaneous abortion of the first trimester of pregnancy.
Plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-11 were determined in 68 women who had a spontaneous abortion of unknown aetiology during the first trimester of pregnancy. They were compared with the corresponding levels of 73 age-matched pregnant women who had an uneventful pregnancy, and 52 age-matched non-pregnant women. All enrolled women presented without any severe disease, syndrome or recent infection. Cytokine levels were measured by a sensitive sandwich enzyme-linked immunoassay.
The women with spontaneous abortion had significantly decreased plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-11 compared to those with normal pregnancies (P<0.05). The non-pregnant women had no detectable cytokine levels.
The reduced plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-11 in women with spontaneous abortion may be related to the underlying aetiopathogenetic mechanisms, however, there is no sufficient evidence for their use as predictive markers of pregnancy outcome.
