Problem: Little is known about how preeclampsia affects regulatory T-cell count and
functions in umbilical cord blood of babies born to preeclamptic mothers. Here, we
analyze the percentage of CD4+ CD25high FOXP3+
, CD4+ CD25low FOXP3+
, and
CD4+ FOXP3+
Tregs, in the umbilical cord blood of babies born to mothers with and
without preeclampsia.
Method of study: The percentage of umbilical cord blood CD4+ CD25high FOXP3+
,
CD4+ CD25low FOXP3+
, and CD4+ FOXP3+
Tregs were analyzed by flow cytometry.
Results: CD4+ CD25high FOXP3+
Treg (%) and CD4+ FOXP3+
Treg (%) were significantly lower, while CD4+ CD25low (%) was significantly higher in umbilical cord blood
of babies born to preeclamptic mothers.
Conclusion: Preeclampsia is associated with immune dysregulation which leads to a
deficiency in Treg (CD4+ CD25high FOXP3+
) in the umbilical cord blood of babies born
to preeclamptic mothers.