Increased ratio of Th1/Th2 cells promotes pyroptosis of placental trophoblast cells in early-onset severe preeclampsia

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of Th1/Th2 ratio on pyroptosis of placental trophoblast cells in early-onset severe preeclampsia. Methods The clinical data of 55 cases of early-onset severe preeclampsia diagnosed in our hospital from June 2018 to December 2019 were collected as the preeclampsia group, and another 30 healthy pregnant women in our hospital during the same period were subjected as the normal control. Flow cytometry was used to detect the proportion of Th1 and Th2 cells in venous blood of the subjects; ELISA was adopted to measure the contents of pyroptosis-related factors IL-1β and IL-18 in serum. The placental tissue pyroptosis and the expression of GSDMD protein in placental tissue were observed by TUNEL staining and immunofluorescence staining respectively. The protein levels of Caspase-1, NLRP3, ASC and GSDMD were determined by Western blotting. Results Flow cytometry showed that the ratio of Th1/Th2 cells was significantly increased in the preeclampsia group. ELISA results indicated that the contents of IL-1β and IL-18 in the serum were remarkably higher in the preeclampsia group than the normal group (P < 0.01). TUNEL staining and immunofluorescence staining also confirmed a large number of pyroptosis-like cells and high level of GSDMD in the preeclampsia group; Western blotting demonstrated that the protein levels of Caspase-1, NLRP3, ASC and GSDMD were all notably elevated, as compared with the normal group. Conclusion In early-onset severe preeclampsia, the increased Th1/Th2 ratio promotes pyroptosis of placental trophoblast cells.

Keywords

• early-onset severe preeclampsia
• th1/th2
• placental trophoblast cells
• pyroptosis
• gsdmd
• caspase-1