The immunological
parameters were analyzed during
pregnancy of Lewis
rats by the
methods of
flow cytometry,
thymidine incorporation and enzyme-linked immunospot (
ELISPOT). MHC II of
spleen mononuclear
cells (MNCs) and CD11c of periphery
blood MNCs was apparently downregulated in late
pregnancy, while the costimulatory molecules B7-1 and B7-2 showed no difference. Increased expression of Th2
cytokines (
IL-10,
IL-4) and
TGFbeta was detected in the
spleen and peripheral
blood MNCs in the
third trimester by
flow cytometry. No
suppression of Th1
cytokine represented by IFNgamma was found. Furthermore,
antigen specific proliferation of
spleen and peripheral
blood MNCs was unchanged, but higher proliferation of MNCs from mesenteric
lymph nodes was shown in late
pregnancy. There was an inhibition of
antigen specific
antibody production in
pregnancy examined by
ELISPOT. These data indicate the immunomodulatory effects of
sex-
hormones in
pregnancy, which may be related to the remission of
T cell-mediated
autoimmune diseases during
pregnancy.