Study Of Immunologic Microenvironment At Maternal-fetal Interface With ICP

Backgroud: Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is thought to a complication of late pregnancy, it is associated with an increased risk of fetal distress, causing premature deliveries, fetal distress, fetal deaths and stillbirths. Morphological changes of the placenta complicated with ICP were characterized by increased cellular swelling, retrogression and apoptosis of syncytiotrophoblasts, a reduction of the intermicrovillous space, which result in oxygen deficiency of infants. Presently, The cause of ICP and the mechanisms of placental hypofunction are not fully elucidated, no drug treatment has achieved the ideal goals. Only after etiological factor and mechanisms of placental hypofunction are identified completely, effective measure of precaution and therapy may be designed.The increasingly literatures indicate the relationship between the aetiology of ICP and immunological balance disturbances, However, almost investigations has centered primarily on maternal blood, presenting that disturbed immune reactions are present in peripheral blood. However, maternal-fetal interface is special tissue where maternal decidua comes into direct contact with fetal extraembryonic tissue, composed of maternal decidua and embryonic trophoblastic cells. Maternal-fetal interface should be the most cruical position where the immune response occurs. Immunological competent cells (ICC) and a lot of cytokines constitute special immunologic microenvironment at the maternal-fetal interface, which is crucial for embryo implantation and gestational maintenance. In early pregnancy NK cells are enriched at sites where fetal trophoblast infiltrates the decidua. The appearance of decidual NK cells suggest that one of the functions of these cells is control of placentation. Histologic studies indicate NK cells...