The Study Of Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes Apoptosis In Patients With Intrahepatic Cholestasis Of Pregnancy

[Objectives] Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a disease that occurs during the second half of pregnancy and does great harm to thefetus . Its etiology and pathogenesis are not clear. Recent studies have suggested that the disturbance of immune tolerance-immune rejection may contribute to the pathogenesis of ICP. Lymphocyte is very important in theimmune reaction .Therefore ,it is very important to investigate therelationship between ICP peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) apoptosisand its clinical significance . [Methods] The peripheral blood lymphocytes(PBLs) and the cord blood lymphocytes (CBLs) were isolated from 20patients with ICP and 20 normal pregnants. Flow cytometry (FCM) wasused to detect the apoptosis cells in the PBLs and the CBLs. Apoptosisregulatory molecules (Fas/FasL,Bcl-2) on PBLs and CBLs were detectedby immunohistochemical technique. FasmRNA,FasLmRNA andBcl-2mRNA on PBLs were detected by RT-PCR. [Results] The percentageof apoptotic PBLs and CBLs in ICP patients were significantly lower thanthat of the normal pregnants(). Bcl-2 was highly expressed on PBLs in ICP .Fas was lowly expressed , whereas the FasL expression was normal.FasmRNA was significantly lower expressed on PBLs in ICP patients .Compared with normal subjects , the expression of FasLmRNAand Bcl-2mRNA were normal. The FasL protein expression on CBLs inICP patients was significantly higher than that of normal pregnants, but Fasand Bcl-2 protein expressin were normal. [Conclusions] The abnormalapoptosis of PBLs and CBLs can influence the immune reaction of ICPpatients ,which is one of the pathogenesis factors in ICP.