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| 2. |
- Abelius, Martina, et al.
(författare)
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Pregnancy modulates the allergen-induced cytokine production differently in allergic and non-allergic women
- 2017
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Ingår i: Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. - : WILEY. - 0905-6157 .- 1399-3038. ; 28:8, s. 818-824
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The immunological environment during pregnancy may differ between allergic and non-allergic women. This study investigates the effect of maternal allergy on the allergen-induced cytokine and chemokine levels and whether pregnancy modulates these immune responses differently in allergic and non-allergic women. Methods: The birch-, cat-, phytohemagglutinin- and tetanus toxoid-induced interferon-gamma(IFN-gamma), interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-10, IL-13, the T-helper 1 (Th1)-associated chemokine CXCL10 and the Th2-associated chemokine CCL17 levels were quantified in 20 women with allergic symptoms (sensitized, n=13) and 36 women without allergic symptoms (non-sensitized, n=30) at gestational weeks 10-12, 15-16, 25, 35 and 2 and 12months post-partum. Results: Birch-, but not cat-induced, IL-5, IL-13 and CCL17 levels were increased during pregnancy as compared to post-partum in the sensitized women with allergic symptoms. In contrast, cat-, but not birch-induced, IL-5 and IL-13 levels were increased during pregnancy as compared to post-partum in the non-sensitized women without allergic symptoms. Furthermore, IFN-gamma secretion was increased in the first and decreased in the second and third trimesters in response to birch and decreased in the third trimester in response to cat as compared to post-partum in the non-sensitized women without allergic symptoms. Increased allergen-induced IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 levels were associated with allergic symptoms and sensitization. Conclusions: Pregnancy had a clear effect on the allergen-induced IL-5, IL-13, CCL17, IFN-gamma and CXCL10 production, with distinct enhanced Th2-responses to birch in the allergic group and to cat in the non-allergic group.
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| 3. |
- Abelius, Martina S, et al.
(författare)
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Gene expression in placenta, peripheral and cord blood mononuclear cells from allergic and non-allergic women
- 2014
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: The influence of maternal allergy on the development of immune responses and allergy in the offspring is not understood.Objective: To investigate (i) if maternal allergy influences the gene expression locally in placenta, systemically in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and fetally in cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMC), (ii) if the gene expression in the placenta and PBMC influences the gene expression in CBMC and (iii) how the gene expression at birth relates to allergy development during childhood.Methods: A real-time PCR array was used to quantify forty immune regulatory genes in placenta, PBMC (gestational week 39) and in CBMC from 7 allergic and 12 non-allergic women and their offspring. Furthermore, quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure mRNA expression of Tbx21, GATA-3, Foxp3, RORC and CCL22 in CBMC, selected based on present PCR array results and previous protein findings in cord blood, in 13 children who developed and 11 children who did not develop allergy during childhood.Results: The gene expression profile in the placenta revealed a T-helper (Th) 2-/anti-inflammatory environment as compared with gene expression systemically, in PBMC. Maternal allergy was associated with increased expression of p35 in PBMC and CBMC and p40 in placenta. Placental p35 expression correlated with fetal Tbx21 expression (Rho=-0.88, p<0.001) and maternal IL-5 expression in PBMC with fetal Galectin-1 (Rho=0.91, p<0.001) expression. Allergy development in the children was preceded by high mRNA expression of the Th2-associated chemokine CCL22 at birth.Conclusion and clinical relevance: Gene expression locally and systemically during pregnancy influenced the offspring’s gene expression at birth, indicating an interplay between maternal and fetal immunity. Children developing allergy during childhood had an increased expression of the Th2-associated chemokine CCL22 at birth, indicating a Th2 skewing before disease onset. Maternal allergy was not associated with a Th2-dominance in placenta, PBMC or CBMC.
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| 4. |
- Abelius, Martina S, et al.
(författare)
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High cord blood levels of the T-helper 2-associated chemokines CCL17 and CCL22 precede allergy development during the first 6 years of life
- 2011
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Ingår i: Pediatric Research. - 0031-3998 .- 1530-0447. ; 70:5, s. 495-500
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Exposure to a strong T-helper 2 (Th2)-like environment during fetal development may promote allergy development. Increased cord blood (CB) levels of the Th2-associated chemokine CCL22 were associated with allergy development during the first 2 y of life. The aim of the present study was to determine whether CB Th1- and Th2-associated chemokine levels are associated with allergy development during the first 6 y of life, allowing assessment of respiratory allergic symptoms usually developing in this period. The CB levels of cytokines, chemokines, and total IgE were determined in 56 children of 20 women with allergic symptoms and 36 women without allergic symptoms. Total IgE and allergen-specific IgE antibody levels were quantified at 6, 12, 24 mo, and 6 y of age. Increased CB CCL22 levels were associated with development of allergic sensitization and asthma and increased CCL17 levels with development of allergic symptoms, including asthma. Sensitized children with allergic symptoms showed higher CB CCL17 and CCL22 levels and higher ratios between these Th2-associated chemokines and the Th1-associated chemokine CXCL10 than nonsensitized children without allergic symptoms. A pronounced Th2 deviation at birth, reflected by increased CB CCL17 and CCL22 levels, and increased CCL22/CXCL10 and CCL17/CXCL10 ratios might promote allergy development later in life.
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| 5. |
- Abelius, Martina S, et al.
(författare)
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Th2-like chemokine levels are increased in allergic children and influenced by maternal immunity during pregnancy
- 2014
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Ingår i: Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0905-6157 .- 1399-3038. ; 25:4, s. 387-393
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The influence of the intra-uterine environment on the immunity and allergy development in the offspring is unclear. We aimed to investigate (i) whether the pregnancy magnifies the Th2 immunity in allergic and non-allergic women, (ii) whether the maternal chemokine levels during pregnancy influenced the offspring’s chemokine levels during childhood and (iii) the relationship between circulating Th1/Th2-associated chemokines and allergy in mothers and children.Methods: The Th1-associated chemokines CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL11, and the Th2- associated chemokines CCL17, CCL18 and CCL22 were quantified by Luminex and ELISA in 20 women with and 36 women without allergic symptoms at gestational week (gw) 10–12, 15–16, 25, 35, 39 and 2 and 12 months post-partum and in their children at birth, 6, 12, 24 months and 6 yr of age. Total IgE levels were measured using ImmunoCAP Technology.Results: The levels of the Th2-like chemokines were not magnified by pregnancy. Instead decreased levels were shown during pregnancy (irrespectively of maternal allergy status) as compared to post-partum. In the whole group, the Th1-like chemokine levels were higher at gw 39 than during the first and second trimester and post-partum. Maternal CXCL11, CCL18 and CCL22 levels during and after pregnancy correlated with the corresponding chemokines in the offspring during childhood. Increased CCL22 and decreased CXCL10 levels in the children were associated with sensitisation and increased CCL17 levels with allergic symptoms during childhood. Maternal chemokine levels were not associated with maternal allergic disease.Conclusions: Allergic symptoms and sensitisation were associated with decreased Th1-and increased Th2-associated chemokine levels during childhood, indicating a Th2 shift in the allergic children, possibly influenced by the maternal immunity during pregnancy.
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| 6. |
- Abelius, Martina S, et al.
(författare)
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The Placental Immune Milieu is Characterized by a Th2- and Anti-Inflammatory Transcription Profile, Regardless of Maternal Allergy, and Associates with Neonatal Immunity
- 2015
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Ingår i: American Journal of Reproductive Immunology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1046-7408 .- 1600-0897. ; 73:5, s. 445-459
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PROBLEM: How maternal allergy affects the systemic and local immunological environment during pregnancy and the immune development of the offspring is unclear.METHOD OF STUDY: Expression of 40 genes was quantified by PCR arrays in placenta, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMC) from 7 allergic and 12 non-allergic women and their offspring.RESULTS: Placental gene expression was dominated by a Th2-/anti-inflammatory profile, irrespectively of maternal allergy, as compared to gene expression in PBMC. p35 expression in placenta correlated with fetal Tbx21 (ρ = -0.88, P < 0.001) and IL-5 expression in PBMC with fetal galectin1 (ρ = 0.91, P < 0.001). Increased expression of Th2-associated CCL22 in CBMC preceded allergy development.CONCLUSIONS: Gene expression locally and systemically during pregnancy was partly associated with the offspring's gene expression, possibly indicating that the immunological milieu is important for fetal immune development. Maternal allergy was not associated with an enhanced Th2 immunity in placenta or PBMC, while a marked prenatal Th2 skewing, shown as increased CCL22 mRNA expression, might contribute to postnatal allergy development.
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| 7. |
- Boij, Roland, 1952-
(författare)
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Aspects of inflammation, angiogenesis and coagulation in preeclampsia
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Preeclampsia is a major challenge to obstetricians, due to its impact on maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality and the lack of preventive and treatment strategies. The overall aim of this thesis is to increase the knowledge of the pathogenesis of preeclampsia including the role of inflammation, angiogenesis and coagulation, both locally at the fetomaternal interface and in the maternal circulation. Uncompensated maternal endothelial inflammatory responses to factors from stressed trophoblasts seem to be a major contributor to the syndrome, together with an imbalance in angiogenesis and an activated coagulation system. An increasing amount of data indicates an involvement of the immune system with defect tolerance to the conceptus as an integral part of the pathogenesis, at least in early-onset preeclampsia (EOP).We showed that a single administration of human preeclampsia serum in pregnant IL-10−/− mice induced the full spectrum of preeclampsia-like symptoms including hypoxic injury in uteroplacental tissues and endotheliosis in maternal kidneys. Importantly, preeclampsia serum, as early as 12 to 14 weeks of gestation, disrupted cross talk between trophoblasts and endothelial cells in an in vitro model of endovascular activity (Tube formation test). These results indicate that preeclamptic sera can be used to better understand the pathophysiology and to predict the disorder. Preeclampsia has been associated with increased inflammation, aberrant angiogenesis and activated coagulation, but their correlation and relative contribution are unknown. We found that markers for all these mechanisms were independently associated with preeclampsia. Cytokines, chemokines, and complement factors seem all to be part of a Th1-associated inflammatory reaction in preeclampsia, more pronounced in EOP than in late-onset preeclampsia (LOP), in line with a more homogeneous pathogenesis in EOP as based on placental pathology. In women with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), with an anticipated pathologic placentation, only differences in levels for sFlt-1 and PlGF were found in comparison with mothers without IUGR. Thus, sFlt-1 and PlGF seem to be indicators of placental pathology, while other biomarkers might also reflect maternal endothelial pathology. Chemokines, in contrast to cytokines, may prove to be useful markers in preeclampsia.A deficiency in regulatory T (Treg) cells causing reduced immune regulatory capacity has been proposed in preeclampsia. Utilizing recent advances in flow cytometry phenotyping, we found no major alterations in circulating Treg numbers in preeclamptic women compared with normal pregnant and non-pregnant women. However, preeclampsia was associated with increased fractions of CTLA-4+ and CCR4+ cells within Treg subpopulations, which is in line with a migratory defect of Treg cells, and potentially associated with a reduced number of suppressive Treg cells at the fetomaternal interface. As we found that corticosteroid treatment affected the results, it should be accounted for in studies of EOP. Chemokines are supposed to be part of the immune adaptation in pregnancy. We found a decreased expression of CCL18 (Th2/Tregassociated), in trophoblasts from preeclamptic compared to normal pregnant women, indicating a local regulatory defect in preeclampsia, in line with our finding of a possible migratory defect of circulating Treg cells. Due to increased expression of CCL20 (Th17) and CCL22 (Th2) in first trimester placenta and increased circulating levels of CXCL10 (Th1) and CCL20 (Th17) in third trimester preeclamptic women, we suggest that CCL20 and CCL22 may be important for implantation and early placentation while in third trimester of a preeclamptic pregnancy CXCL10 and CCL20 mainly mirror maternal increased endothelial inflammation and aberrant angiogenesis. In summary, we found that preeclampsia is associated with increased inflammation, aberrant angiogenesis and activated coagulation, caused by placental factors in maternal peripheral circulation, more pronounced in the early-onset form of preeclampsia. It also appears that there is a defective modulation of the immune system in preeclamptic pregnancies. The results provide a better understanding of the pathogenesis of preeclampsia and have given suggestions to predictive markers for preeclampsia in the future.
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| 8. |
- Boij, Roland, et al.
(författare)
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Biomarkers of Coagulation, Inflammation, and Angiogenesis are Independently Associated with Preeclampsia
- 2012
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Ingår i: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE IMMUNOLOGY. - : John Wiley and Sons. - 1046-7408 .- 8755-8920. ; 68:3, s. 258-270
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Problem Although preeclampsia has been associated with inflammation, coagulation, and angiogenesis, their correlation and relative contribution are unknown. Method of Study About 114 women with preeclampsia, 31 with early onset (EOP) and 83 with late onset preeclampsia (LOP), and 100 normal pregnant controls were included. A broad panel of 32 biomarkers reflecting coagulation, inflammation, and angiogenesis was analyzed. Results Preeclampsia was associated with decreased antithrombin, IL-4 and placental growth factor levels and with increased C3a, pentraxin-3, and sFlt-1 levels, with more marked differences in the EOP group. The Th1-associated chemokines CXCL10 and CXCL11 were significantly higher in the preeclampsia and EOP group than in controls, respectively. No correlations between the biomarkers were found in preeclampsia. Multivariate logistic regression tests confirmed the results. Conclusions Cytokines, chemokines and complement activation seem to be part of a Th1-like inflammatory reaction in preeclampsia, most pronounced in EOP, where chemokines may be more useful than cytokines as biomarkers. Biomarkers were not correlated suggesting partly independent or in time separated mechanisms.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Boij, Roland, et al.
(författare)
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Regulatory T-cell Subpopulations in Severe or Early-onset Preeclampsia
- 2015
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Ingår i: American Journal of Reproductive Immunology. - : WILEY-BLACKWELL. - 1046-7408 .- 1600-0897. ; 74:4, s. 368-378
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Problem A deficiency in regulatory T (Treg) cells causing reduced immune regulatory capacity has been proposed in preeclampsia. Objective Utilizing recent advances in flow cytometry phenotyping, we aimed to assess whether a deficiency of Treg subpopulations occurs in preeclampsia. Method of study Six-color flow cytometry was used for Treg phenotyping in 18 preeclamptic women (one early-onset, one severe and 16 both), 20 women with normal pregnancy, and 20 non-pregnant controls. Results No differences were found in major Treg populations including CD127(low)CD25(+)/CD127(ow)FOXP3(+), resting (FOXP3(dim)CD45RA(+)), and activated (FOXP3(bright)CD45RA(-)) Treg cells, whereas preeclamptic women showed increased CTLA-4(+) and CCR4(+) proportions within resting/activated Treg populations. Corticosteroid treatment prior to blood sampling (n = 10) affected the distribution of Treg populations. Conclusions Although we found no major alterations in circulating Treg frequencies, differences in CTLA-4(+) and CCR4(+) frequencies suggest a migratory defect of Treg cells in preeclampsia. Corticosteroid treatment should be taken into account when evaluating Treg cells.
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