The Change Of Expression And Significance About IL-17in Intrahepatic Cholestasis Of Pregnancy

Objective:To investigate the expression of IL-17which is the specific cytokine of the Th17lymphocyte in the peripheral blood and decidua of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP),in order to master its affect on the pathogenity of ICP.Methods:Peripheral blood and decidua tissues were obtained from35patients with ICP(20with mild ICP,10with severe ICP) and15normal pregnant women (NP group) in the Second Xiangya Hospital from december2011to january2013.We tested the concentrations of IL-17by ELISA in the peripheral blood we got and checked the levels of TBA in the serum.Meanwhile Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were used to eavluate the expression of IL-17mRNA and protein in decidua tissues.As the last step,statistical analysis was carried on.Results:1. The serum TBA concentration of the severe ICP group was (54.69±21.03)μmol/L, while the mild ICP group was (20.45±8.67)μmol/L,and the normal pregnant group was (2.99±1.26)μmol/L; pairwise comparisons were statistically significant (P<0.01).2.The serum IL-17concentration of the severe ICP group was (23.10±2.54) pg/ml,while the mild ICP group was (15.96±1.58) pg/ml,and the normal pregnant group was (10.60±0.62) pg/ml; pairwise comparisons were statistically significant (P<0.01).3.The relative expression of IL-17mRNA in decidua tissues of the severe ICP group was (4.79×10-4±1.24×10-4).while the mild ICP group was (3.51×10-4±0.62±10-4),and the normal pregnant group was (2.09±10-4±0.78×10-4); pairwise comparisons were statistically significant (P<0.01).4.The relative expression of IL-17protein in decidua tissues of the severe ICP group was (1.19±0.29),while the mild ICP group was (0.75±0.37),and the normal pregnant group was (0.57±0.29); pairwise comparisons were statistically significant (P<0.01).5.There was a positive correlation between TBA and the expression of IL-17in both Peripheral blood and decidua.6.The correlation coefficient "r" of the relative expression of IL-17protein in decidua tissues with the serum TBA concentration was0.971which was higher than the one of the serum IL-17concentration with the serum TBA concentration who was0.953.Conclusions:IL-17was expressed in peripheral serum and decidua tissues of normal pregnant women and ICP; the levels of IL-17expression in both peripheral serum and decidua of ICP were higher than that of normal pregnant women; the levels of IL-17expression in both peripheral serum and decidua of ICP had a positive correlation with the severity of the disease; the level of IL-17expression in decidua of ICP had a significant positive correlation with the severity of the disease.