Expression and clinical significance of PD-1 and Tim-3 on monocytes in peripheral blood of patients with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion

HE Zexian; WANG Jian; MU Yaqin; LIU Runhua; ZHAO Fuxi

doi:10.13431/j.cnki.immunol.j.20170057

Abstract：This study was designed to investigate the expression of PD-1 and Tim-3 on monocytes in peripheral blood and the secretion of relative cytokines,and to provide theoretical basis for evaluating the pathogenesis of threatened abortion and unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA).Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from peripheral vein blood of 29 cases of normal early pregnancy (group A),37 cases of threatened abortion (group B) and 22 cases of URSA (group C) with density gradient centrifugation.Flow cytometry was used to detect the frequency of Tim-3 and PD-1 expression on CD14+ monocytes in peripheral blood of the three groups;ELISA was used to detect the concentration of IL-4,IL-12 and IFN-γ in the peripheral blood of three groups.SPSS 17.0 analysis showed that compared with normal early pregnancy group,Tim-3 and PD-1 expressed on monocytes were down-regulated and the level of IL-4 was decreased in peripheral blood of threatened abortion group and URSA group,and those of URSA group were lower than those of threatened abortion group (P＜0.05);while the concentration of IFN-γ and IL-12 were up-regulated,and those of URSA group were higher than those of threatened abortion group (P＜0.05).The correlation analysis suggested that Tim-3 was positively correlated with PD-1,Tim-3 and PD-1 were negatively correlated with IL-12 (P＜0.05),IL-12 was negatively correlated with IL-4 but positively correlated with IFN-γ in threatened abortion and URSA groups.These findings suggest that PD-1 and Tim-3 on monocytes in peripheral blood can regulate Th1/Th2 balance by regulating IL-12 secretion and then participate in the occurrence of threatened abortion and URSA.