Changes in the Th1 : Th2 Cytokine Bias in Pregnancy and the Effects of the Anti-Inflammatory Cyclopentenone Prostaglandin 15-Deoxy--Prostaglandin
Figure 3
Effect of 15dPGJ2 on Th1 and Th2 cytokines. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were incubated with vehicle control or 32 μM of 15dPGJ2 and stimulated with PMA/ionomycin before being gated on the lymphocyte population according to forward and side scatter. A representative 28-week patient sample is presented with CD4+/IFN-γ + cells shown in the right upper quadrant (a). A representative histogram reveals a clear shift to the right upon stimulation indicative of increased IFN-γ producing cells (b). This effect was attenuated with 15dPGJ2 pre-treatment. PMA/ionomycin induced IFN-γ and TNF-α production was decreased with 15dPGJ2 treatment (c) and (d); however, levels of IL-4 remained unchanged. No change in IL-4 producing cells was detected (e). For statistical analysis a Student’s -test was used to compare means between paired treated and nontreated samples; ** and *.
