Reduced uterine perfusion pressure T-helper 17 cells cause pathophysiology associated with preeclampsia during pregnancy.

Preeclampsia is associated with chronic inflammation and an imbalance among T-helper cell subtypes with an increase in T-helper 17 (T17) cells. The objective of this study was to determine a role for T17s, from the reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) rat model of preeclampsia, in the etiology of hypertension and chronic inflammation during pregnancy. CD4/CD25 T cells were isolated from rat spleens, cultured in T17 media, and were verified as T17s via flow cytometry.

Blockade of CD40 ligand for intercellular communication reduces hypertension, placental oxidative stress, and AT1-AA in response to adoptive transfer of CD4+ T lymphocytes from RUPP rats.

Preeclampsia (PE) is associated with altered immune activation during pregnancy. We have previously shown that adoptive transfer of CD4(+) T cells from the reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) rat model of PE increases blood pressure, oxidative stress (ROS), and inflammation in normal pregnant recipient rats. The objective of this study was to determine if blockade of communication via the CD40-CD40 ligand (CD40L) interaction between placental ischemia-induced CD4(+) T cells with endogenous normal pregnant (NP) cells would improve pathophysiology that was previously observed in NP recipient rats of RUPP CD4(+) T cells.

An increased population of regulatory T cells improves the pathophysiology of placental ischemia in a rat model of preeclampsia.

The reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) rat model of preeclampsia exhibits much of the pathology characterizing this disease, such as hypertension, inflammation, suppressed regulatory T cells (TRegs), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and autoantibodies to the ANG II type I receptor (AT1-AA) during pregnancy. The objective of this study was to determine whether supplementation of normal pregnant (NP) TRegs into RUPP rats would attenuate the pathophysiology associated with preeclampsia during pregnancy. CD4(+)/CD25(+) T cells were isolated from spleens of NP and RUPP rats, cultured, and injected into gestation day (GD) 12 normal pregnant rats that underwent the RUPP procedure on GD 14.