Table 2.
Percentage of the CD4+CD127low+/−CD25+forkhead box protein 3 (FoxP3+) regulatory T cell (Treg) cell pool within CD4+ T cells, its suppressive activity and its composition with distinct Treg subsets in healthy and affected pregnancies
| Healthy pregnancy groups 3 and 4 | Pre-eclampsia group 5 | HELLP syndrome group 6 | CI group 7 | PL group 8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CD4+ T cells (%) | 29·7 (13·1–48·9) | 28·9 (7·1–42·6) | 29·7 (12·5–40·2) | 33·7 (9·7–52·1) | 22·0 ↓ (9·0–46·7) |
| Treg cells (%) | 4·4 (2·1–8·7) | 4·6 (2·1–6·7) | 4·3 (3·0–6·5) | 4·7 (2·1–8·9) | 4·5 (1·8–7·3) |
| Suppressive activity | |||||
| Max. suppr. activity (%) (Treg/Tresp 1/1) | 59·9 (35·8–93·8) | 37·3 ↓ (7·9–59·0) | 82·2 (62·9–89·9) | 50·9 (25·0–90·9) | 28·2 ↓ (0–68·9) |
| Titre of Treg (>15% suppr. activity) | 1:16 (1:2–1:32 | 1:1 ↓ (1:1–1:4) | 1:16 (1:4–1:32) | 1:4 (1:1–1:16) | 1:1 ↓ (1:1–1:8) |
| Subsets | |||||
| of the Treg cell pool (%) | |||||
| DR-CD45RA Tregs | 38·6 (19·1–68·9) | 27·9 ↓ (8·1–48·6) | 33·6 (15·0–57·6) | 35·4 (11·4–60·9) | 26·5 ↓ (7·1–39·8) |
| DR-CD45RA- Tregs | 30·4 (13·9–48·2) | 30·5 (18·8–46·8) | 25·4 (18·7–53·3) | 33·4 (16·1–46·5) | 36·1 ↑ (28·0–59·6) |
| DRlow+CD45RA- Tregs | 23·6 (12·4–39·6) | 27·1 ↑ (21·8–43·0) | 26·4 (15·5–40·0) | 24·8 (12·8–36·6) | 28·2 ↑ (20·1–55·5) |
| DRhigh+CD45RA- Tregs | 4·8 (1·4–11·1) | 6·1 ↑ (0·1–27·7) | 6·7 ↑ (3·7–18·0) | 4·1 (1·0–9·8) | 5·3 (0·9–10·3) |
| of the CD4+ T cell pool (%) | |||||
| DR-CD45RA+ Tregs | 2·4 (1·0–5·4) | 1·5 ↓ (0·5–4·0) | 1·7 (1·0–2·8) | 2·0 (1·1–4·4) | 1·6 ↓ (0·3–2·8) |
| DR-CD45RA- Tregs | 1·2 (0·5–2·5) | 1·2 (0·6–2·5) | 0·9 (0·5–1·9) | 1·4 (0·6–2·7) | 1·5 ↑ (0·6–2·5) |
| DRlow+CD45RA- Tregs | 1·1 (0·6–2·3) | 1·6 ↑ (0·8–2·5) | 1·2 (0·7–3·0) | 1·2 (0·5–3·9) | 1·7 ↑ (0·7–2·9) |
| DRhigh+CD45RA- Tregs | 0·2 (0–0·6) | 0·3 ↑ (0·1–1·2) | 0·3 ↑ (0·1–0·9) | 0·1 (0–0·5) | 0·2 (0–0·5) |
↑↓Significant differences were obtained compared to healthy pregnancies; CI: cervical insufficiency; HELLP: haemolysis-elevated liver enzyme levels-low platelet count syndrome; PL: preterm labour necessitating preterm delivery.