The Level of Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines in Fetal Growth Retardation

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the blood of pregnant women with late intrauterine growth retardation (IGR). We examined 94 pregnant women with IGR at 36-37 weeks, mean age 30.2±1.88 years. All pregnant women underwent Doppler ultrasound in the third trimester. The determination of interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin 1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) was performed in blood serum by ELISA. In 51.1% of cases, grade 1 IGR was diagnosed, in 48.9% of cases -grade II IGR. According to Doppler ultrasound, pregnant women with IGR more often (31.9%) had changes in the cerebral-placental ratio. Late IGR was diagnosed in 38.3% of pregnant women (group I), late IGR accompanied by placental insufficiency -in 61.7% of women (group II). The level of INF-γ was higher than the control, but a significant difference with the control was noted in patients of group II (p=0.054). The level of IL-1β in the total sample was higher than the control by 69.6% (p<0.001), in groups I and II -by 60.9% (p=0.006) and 74.4% (p<0.001), respectively. In patients of group II, compared with group I, the level of IL-1β exceeded by 31.9% (p=0.090). The content of TNF-α in all groups significantly exceeded the control value. A high level of TNF-α was observed in group II compared with group I (p=0.010). With fetal growth retardation, there is an increase in pro-inflammatory immunity, manifested in an increase in the levels of TNF-α, IL-1-β and IFN-γ.