Expression of interleukin-17 in placenta and peripheral blood of patients with preeclampsia

Objective To investigate the relationship of IL-17 and Th17 cells with preeclampsia.Methods Thirty-two patients with severe preeclampsia and thirty normal pregnant women as controls were investigated.① Expression of IL-17 mRNA in placental specimens was detected by real-time PCR;② Concentrations of IL-17,IL-6 and TNF-α in the serum were measured by ELISA.Results Compared with the control group,expression of IL-17 mRNA was higher in preeclampsia placentas(P0.05);levels of IL-17,IL-6 and TNF-α in maternal serum were higher in the preeclampsia group than in the controls(P0.01,P0.05,P0.01 respectively);and in the preeclampsia group,there was a positive correlation between IL-17 and IL-6(r=0.402,P0.05).Conclusions IL-17 and Th17 cells may contribute to the pathogenesis and patho-physiology of preeclampsia.IL-6 and TNF-α may also be involved in the process.