Women with SLE show increased secretions of activin A, IL-17, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α during gestation, with a different trend for the various cytokines. These data suggest that patients with SLE have a hyper-reactive immune system, probably receiving a placental contribution.

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In this study, we want to evaluate which are the risk factors involved in early pre-term delivery (PTD). Spontaneous PTD results from two clinical conditions: (1) spontaneous pre-term labour (PTL) leading to PTD (idiopathic) and (2) pre-term premature rupture of membranes (pPROM). This is a multicentric, observational, retrospective, cross-sectional study, which includes 7,631 women admitted in the Obstetric units of Siena, Perugia, Torino, Trieste, Milano, Modena, Ancona, Foggia and Catania. Data were obtained from all patients having delivered spontaneously, pre-term or at term. The present study reveals the involvement of inflammation/infection in pathogenetic mechanisms leading to early PTD in the Italian population. A higher incidence of both clinical and pathological parameters of inflammation/infection - pPROM, genitourinary tract infections, placenta histopathological inflammation, WBC and C-reactive protein (CRP) - in early pre-term delivery in respect to late pre-term delivery and delivery at term, were shown.