Human pregnancy is accompanied by modifications in B cell development and immunoglobulin profile.

Though human pregnancy success has been classically linked with a shift into a Th2 immunoglobulin producing cell response, a clear picture concerning B cell development and immunoglobulin profile during human pregnancy is missing. We analyzed in this work the dynamic of different B cell populations in peripheral blood of pregnant women on the first, second and third trimester of pregnancy. As control, age-matched non-pregnant fertile women were included. Additionally, we quantified the levels of immunoglobulin (IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4, IgM, IgA and IgE) in the serum of pregnant and non-pregnant women. We observed a significant decrease in the percentages of transitional B cells in peripheral blood of pregnant women as compared to non-pregnant control women. Besides, percentages of naïve as well as switched and non-switched memory B cells in peripheral blood of pregnant women were similar to those in non-pregnant control women. Interestingly, although we did not observe differences in the activation status of B cells as well as in the percentages of plasma cells between pregnant and non-pregnant women, we observed significantly higher levels of IgM, IgA, IgG3, more likely natural antibodies, as well IgG4 in serum of pregnant women compared to non-pregnant age matched control women.

Progesterone and estradiol exert an inhibitory effect on the production of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 by activated MZ B cells.

The main message of this work is the fact that female sex hormones, progesterone and estradiol, whose levels significantly rise during pregnancy, inhibit the production of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 with no apparent effect on pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α by activated MZ B cells. This is an important piece of information and helps to better understand how the maternal immune system controls the balance between immune tolerance and immune activation during pregnancy leading to the simultaneously acceptance of the semi-allogeneic fetus and the proper defense of the mother against pathogens during this critical period of time.

[Neuropsychological aspects of delusional disorders. Characteristic attributional style or cognitive deficit?]. / Neuropsychologische Aspekte wahnhafter Störungen. Charakteristischer Attribuierungsstil oder kognitives Defizit?

BACKGROUND: "Pure" delusional disorders are clinically rare, and the neuropsychology of such disorders is poorly understood. Whereas "deficit" models suggest a cognitive impairment accounting for the incorrigible fixation of false beliefs, cognitive models propose the existence of a characteristic attributional style in patients to stabilise a fragile self. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The cognitive flexibility and attributional style of 21 patients diagnosed with delusional disorder according to ICD-10 were compared with a group of healthy controls paralleled for age, sex, education, and intelligence. RESULTS: Patients with delusional disorders made more errors and more perseverative errors in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test compared with controls. However, these differences were only significant in patients with a comorbid depression. In contrast to earlier studies, patients with delusional disorders did not attribute negative events to external or personal causes more often than healthy controls, but partly tended to show a depressive attributional style. CONCLUSION: Our results do not support either a cognitive deficit in patients with delusional disorders or a characteristic attributional style. In terms of treatment recommendations, a thorough diagnosis of comorbid depressive disorders in patients with delusional disorders is warranted.