impact factor, citescore
logo
 

Full Papers

 

Increased microchimerism in peripheral blood of women with systemic lupus erythematosus: relation with pregnancy


1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

 

  1. Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. e.m.j.bos@lumc.nl
  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Haaglanden Medical Centre, The Hague, The Netherlands.
  3. Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
  4. Department of Obstetrics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
  5. Department of Pathology, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  6. Department of Nephrology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
  7. Department of Internal Medicine and Rheumatology, Martini Hospital, Groningen, The Netherlands.
  8. Department of Nephrology, Meander Medical Center, Amersfoort, The Netherlands.
  9. Department of Obstetrics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
  10. Department of Rheumatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, and Haaglanden Medical Center Bronovo, The Hague, The Netherlands.
  11. Department of Medical Statistics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
  12. Department of Obstetrics, Birth Centre Wilhelmina’s Children Hospital, Division Woman and Baby, University Medical Centre Utrecht, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
  13. Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
  14. Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
  15. Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
  16. Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, and Pathan B.V., Laboratory for Pathology, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

CER15186
2022 Vol.40, N°11
PI 2153, PF 2160
Full Papers

purchase article

PMID: 35579081 [PubMed]

Received: 23/09/2021
Accepted : 17/01/2022
In Press: 29/04/2022
Published: 05/11/2022

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:
We aimed to determine the presence, amount and origin of microchimerism in peripheral blood of pregnant and non-pregnant parous women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as compared to control subjects.
METHODS:
We performed a comparative study in which peripheral blood was drawn from eleven female non-pregnant SLE-patients and 22 control subjects, and from six pregnant SLE-patients and eleven control subjects during gestation and up to six months postpartum. Quantitative PCR for insertion-deletion polymorphisms and null alleles was used to detect microchimerism in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and granulocytes.
RESULTS:
Microchimerism was detected more often in non-pregnant SLE-patients than control subjects (54.4% vs. 13.6%, respectively; p=0.03). When present, the median total number of foetal chimeric cells was 5 gEq/106 in patients and 2.5gEq/106 in control subjects (p=0.048). Microchimerism was mostly foetal in origin; maternal microchimerism was detected in one patient and one control subject. In control subjects, microchimerism was always derived from only one source whereas in 50% of patients it originated from multiple sources. The pregnant patients had a significantly higher median number of foetal chimeric cells in the granulocyte fraction just after delivery than control subjects (7.5 gEq/106 vs. 0 gEq/106, respectively; p=0.02).
CONCLUSIONS:
Just after delivery, SLE-patients had more microchimerism than control subjects. Three months post-partum, microchimerism was no longer detectable, only to reappear many years after the last pregnancy, more often and at higher levels in SLE-patients than in control subjects. This suggests that these chimeric cells may originate from non-circulating foetal chimeric stem cells.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.55563/clinexprheumatol/75tlgf

Rheumatology Article

Rheumatology Addendum