Table 1.
Percentage of the CD4+CD127low+/−CD25+FoxP3+ regulatory T cell (Treg) cell pool within CD4+ T cells, its suppressive activity and its composition with distinct Treg subsets in non-pregnant women and healthy pregnant women during the normal course of pregnancy
| Group A non-pregnant | Group 1 11–14 weeks | Group 2 15–23 weeks | Group 3 24–36 weeks | Group 4 37–42 weeks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CD4+ T cells (%) | 37·4 (24·7–50·8) | 29·3 ↓ (21·2–46·8) | 31·9 ↓ (16·7–50·4) | 28·8 ↓ (16·7–48·9) | 32·8 ↓ (13·1–46·2) |
| Treg cells (%) | 4·7 (3·2–7·4) | 5·1 (3·2–7·7) | 4·5 (2·0–6·8) | 4·9 (2·1–8·7) | 4·3 (2·8–7·0) |
| Suppressive activity | |||||
| Max. suppr. activity (%) (Treg/Tresp 1/1) | 84·5 (69·7–94·1) | 84·8 (70·1–91·0) | 71·3 (66·1–87·6) | 74·1 (41·5–93·8) | 55·2 ↓ (35·8–85·0) |
| Titre of Treg (>15% suppr. activity) | 1:16 (1:16–1:32) | 1:32 (1:16–1:64) | 1:16 (1:8–1:64) | 1:16 (1:2–1:32) | 1:8 ↓ (1:2–1:32) |
| Subsets | |||||
| of the Treg cell pool (%) | |||||
| DR-CD45RA+ Tregs | 28·5 (9·8–51·5) | 31·9 (17·9–47·9) | 37·2 (21·0–55·9) | 36·2 (21·7–55·7) | 39·1 ↑ (19·1–68·9) |
| DR-CD45RA- Tregs | 30·7 (19·8–43·9) | 32·7 (21·4–42·3) | 31·6 (21·5–40·2) | 30·6 (18·7–48·2) | 30·2 (13·9–41·0) |
| DRlow+CD45RA- Tregs | 28·8 (20·6–44·4) | 29·3 (15·7–42·9) | 24·1 (11·6–36·9) | 23·8 (14·3–39·6) | 23·5 ↓ (12·4–31·4) |
| DRhigh+CD45RA- Tregs | 8·3 (4·2–20·0) | 8·0 (2·7–14·8) | 5·0 (1·9–8·8) | 5·4 (1·6–9·0) | 4·4 ↓ (1·4–11·1) |
| of the CD4+ T cell pool (%): | |||||
| DR-CD45RA+ Tregs | 1·9 (0·8–3·5) | 2·0 (1·0–3·8) | 2·3 (1·0–3·9) | 2·3 (1·0–5·4) | 2·4 ↑ (1·3–4·4) |
| DR-CD45RA- Tregs | 1·5 (0·7–2·4) | 1·6 (0·9–2·8) | 1·3 (0·9–2·1) | 1·2 (0·5–2·5) | 1·1 (0·1–2·1) |
| DRlow+CD45RA- Tregs | 1·5 (0·9–3·6) | 1·5 (0·7–3·3) | 1·3 (0·7–2·3) | 1·3 (0·6–2·3) | 1·1 ↓ (0·6–2·0) |
| DRhigh+CD45RA- Tregs | 0·3 (0·1–0·7) | 0·2 (0·1–0·6) | 0·2 (0·1–0·7) | 0·2 (0·1–0·5) | 0·2 ↓ (0–0·6) |
↑↓Sgnificant differences were obtained compared to non-pregnant women.