Regulation of the complement system and immunological tolerance in pregnancy.

Regulation of the complement system and immunological tolerance in pregnancy. Semin Immunol. 2019 Nov 19;:101337 Authors: Teirilä L, Heikkinen-Eloranta J, Kotimaa J, Meri S, Lokki AI Abstract Preeclampsia is a serious vascular complication of the human pregnancy, whose etiology is still poorly understood. In preeclampsia, exacerbated apoptosis and fragmentation of the placental tissue occurs due to developmental qualities of the placental trophoblast cells and/or mechanical and oxidative distress to the syncytiotrophoblast, which lines the placental villi. Dysregulation of the complement system is recognized as one of the mechanisms of the disease pathology. Complement has the ability to promote inflammation and facilitate phagocytosis of placenta-derived particles and apoptotic cells by macrophages. In preeclampsia, an overload of placental cell damage or dysregulated complement system may lead to insufficient clearance of apoptotic particles and placenta-derived debris. Excess placental damage may lead to sequestration of microparticles, such as placental vesicles, to capillaries in the glomeruli of the kidney and other vulnerable tissues. This phenomenon could contribute to the manifestations of typical diagnostic symptoms of preeclampsia: proteinuria and new-onset hypertension. In this review we propose that the complement system may serve as a regulator of the complex tolerance and clearance processes that are fundamental in he...
Source: Seminars in Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: Semin Immunol Source Type: research