Plasma of pregnant and preeclamptic women activates monocytes in vitro

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that factors circulating in the plasma of pregnant women and women with preeclampsia activate monocytes. STUDY DESIGN: Blood samples were taken from patients with early-onset severe preeclampsia (n = 9), healthy pregnant women (n = 9), and healthy nonpregnant women (n = 9). A monocytic cell line was incubated with the plasma for 4, 16, and 24 hours. After the incubation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 expression (protein and messenger ribonucleic acid) were measured. RESULTS: Plasma of both pregnant women and women with preeclampsia, as compared with plasma from nonpregnant women, increased the mean channel brightness (MCB) of ROS after 4 hours of incubation, whereas only plasma of pregnant women increased the percentage of cells producing ROS (after 4 and 24 hours of incubation). Plasma of pregnant women and women with preeclampsia upregulated the percentage of ICAM-1-expressing cells after 4 hours and down-regulated the percentage of ICAM-1-expressing cells and MCB after 24 hours. CONCLUSION: Plasma of both pregnant women and women with preeclampsia activated monocytes in vitro.