Detection of interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and interleukin-11 in plasma from women with spontaneous abortion

Objective: To investigate the role of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-11 in the immune-regulatory mechanisms involved in the spontaneous abortion of the first trimester of pregnancy. Study Design: Plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-11 were determined in 68 women who had a spontaneous abortion of unknown aetiology during the first trimester of pregnancy. They were compared with the corresponding levels of 73 age-matched pregnant women who had an uneventful pregnancy, and 52 age-matched non-pregnant women. All enrolled women presented without any severe disease, syndrome or recent infection. Cytokine levels were measured by a sensitive sandwich enzyme-linked immunoassay. Results: The women with spontaneous abortion had significantly decreased plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-11 compared to those with normal pregnancies (P < 0.05). The non-pregnant women had no detectable cytokine levels. Conclusions: The reduced plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-11 in women with spontaneous abortion may be related to the underlying aetiopathogenetic mechanisms, however, there is no sufficient evidence for their use as predictive markers of pregnancy outcome. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.