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Role of placentally produced inflammatory and regulatory cytokines in pregnancy and the etiology of preeclampsia

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Abstract

Human pregnancy is a metabolic and immune challenge for the mother who has to accommodate in her womb a semi-allogeneic fetus whose energy needs increase tremendously with gestation. Recent compelling research has suggested that proper inflammatory changes and oxidative balance are a requisite for successful pregnancy. The placenta is an integral component of this inflammatory response as it actively produces a variety of cytokines and immunomodulatory hormones. In preeclampsia, a life-threatening disorder of pregnancy that is characterized by widespread damage and dysfunction of the maternal endothelium, placental oxidative stress and aberrant cytokine expression induces an exaggerated maternal systemic inflammatory response to pregnancy.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by a grant form the Swiss National Science Foundation (No. 3200-107625).

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  1. Laboratory for Prenatal Medicine and Gynecologic Oncology, University Women’s Hospital/Department of Research, University of Basel, Hebelstrasse 20, Basel, 4031, Switzerland

    Corinne Rusterholz, Sinuhe Hahn & Wolfgang Holzgreve

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  1. Corinne Rusterholz
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  2. Sinuhe Hahn
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Correspondence to Corinne Rusterholz.

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Rusterholz, C., Hahn, S. & Holzgreve, W. Role of placentally produced inflammatory and regulatory cytokines in pregnancy and the etiology of preeclampsia. Semin Immunopathol 29, 151–162 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00281-007-0071-6

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