Characterization of B cells in healthy pregnant women from late pregnancy to post-partum: a prospective observational study

BACKGROUND: B cells play a role in pregnancy due to their humoral and regulatory activities. To our knowledge, different maturational stages (from transitional to memory) of circulating B cell subsets have not yet been characterized (cell quantification and phenotype identification) in healthy pregnant women. Thus, the objective of our study was to characterize these subsets (as well as regulatory B cells) from late pregnancy to post-partum and to compare them with the circulating B cells of non-pregnant women. METHODS: In all of the enrolled women, flow cytometry was used to characterize the circulating B cell subsets according to the expression of IgD and CD38 (Bm1-Bm5 classification system). Regulatory B cells were characterized based on the expression of surface antigens (CD24, CD27, and CD38) and the production of IL-10 after lipopolysaccharide stimulation. RESULTS: Compared to the absolute counts of B cells in the non-pregnant women (n = 35), those in the pregnant women (n = 43) were significantly lower (p < 0.05) during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and on delivery day (immediately after delivery). The percentages of these cells on delivery day and at post-partum were significantly lower than those in the non-pregnant women. In general, the absolute counts and percentages of the majority of the B cell subsets were significantly lower in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and on delivery day than in the non-pregnant women. However, these counts and percentages did not differ significantly between the post-partum and the non-pregnant women. The most notable exceptions to the above were the percentages of naïve B cells (which were significantly higher in the 3rd trimester and on delivery day than in the non-pregnant women) and of CD24(hi)CD38(hi) regulatory B cells (which were significantly higher in the post-partum than in the non-pregnant women). CONCLUSION: According to our study, the peripheral B cell compartment undergoes quantitative changes during normal late pregnancy and post-partum. Such findings may allow us to better understand immunomodulation during human pregnancy and provide evidence that could aid in the development of new strategies to diagnose and treat pregnancy-associated disturbances. Our findings could also be useful for studies of the mechanisms of maternal responses to vaccination and infection.

Characterization of B cells in healthy pregnant women from late pregnancy to post-partum: a prospective observational study

Abstract BACKGROUND: B cells play a role in pregnancy due to their humoral and regulatory activities. To our knowledge, different maturational stages (from transitional to memory) of circulating B cell subsets have not yet been characterized (cell quantification and phenotype identification) in healthy pregnant women. Thus, the objective of our study was to characterize these subsets (as well as regulatory B cells) from late pregnancy to post-partum and to compare them with the circulating B cells of non-pregnant women. METHODS: In all of the enrolled women, flow cytometry was used to characterize the circulating B cell subsets according to the expression of IgD and CD38 (Bm1-Bm5 classification system). Regulatory B cells were characterized based on the expression of surface antigens (CD24, CD27, and CD38) and the production of IL-10 after lipopolysaccharide stimulation. RESULTS: Compared to the absolute counts of B cells in the non-pregnant women (n = 35), those in the pregnant women (n = 43) were significantly lower (p < 0.05) during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and on delivery day (immediately after delivery). The percentages of these cells on delivery day and at post-partum were significantly lower than those in the non-pregnant women. In general, the absolute counts and percentages of the majority of the B cell subsets were significantly lower in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and on delivery day than in the non-pregnant women. However, these counts and percentages did not differ significantly between the post-partum and the non-pregnant women. The most notable exceptions to the above were the percentages of naïve B cells (which were significantly higher in the 3rd trimester and on delivery day than in the non-pregnant women) and of CD24(hi)CD38(hi) regulatory B cells (which were significantly higher in the post-partum than in the non-pregnant women). CONCLUSION: According to our study, the peripheral B cell compartment undergoes quantitative changes during normal late pregnancy and post-partum. Such findings may allow us to better understand immunomodulation during human pregnancy and provide evidence that could aid in the development of new strategies to diagnose and treat pregnancy-associated disturbances. Our findings could also be useful for studies of the mechanisms of maternal responses to vaccination and infection.

The discovery of the appearance of vμ − vτ oscillations

Almost 20 years after the first conceptual design of the experiment, five years of running in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory (LNGS), and billions of billions muon-neutrinos sent from CERN along the CNGS beam, in 2015 the OPERA neutrino detector has allowed the long-awaited discovery of the direct transformation (oscillation) of muon-neutrinos into tau-neutrinos. This result unambiguously confirms the interpretation of the so-called atmospheric channel, after the discovery of neutrino oscillations by the Super-Kamiokande Collaboration in 1998.

Del riparo de' pennelli alle rive del Po di Cremona : a sua eccellenza il signor marchese don Angiolo Luigi Maraviglia Mantegazza, consigliere intimo attuale di stato delle Ll. maestáa imperiali, e presidente della regia camera ec.

Acquisition made accessible thanks to a 2015-2017 grant from the Council on Libraries and Information Resources.

In morte del dottor fisico Francesco Valcamonica di Vimercate.

Acquisition made accessible thanks to a 2015-2017 grant from the Council on Libraries and Information Resources.

Vita di Stanislao Mattei /

Mode of access: Internet.

Memorie di alcuni cospiratori contro il governo austriaco.

From the library of Conte Antonio Cavagna Sangiuliani di Gualdana.

Rondo in B dur für Pianoforte, 2 Violinen, Flöte, 2 Klarinetten in B, 2 Hörner in B, Viola, Violoncello und Bass, op. 9 /

Mode of access: Internet.

Zinc and lead deposits of southeastern Alaska.

Includes bibliographical references.

Brunetto Latini e Il pataffio /

Includes index.

Modo de far pace in via cavaleresca e christiana per sodisfattion di parole, nelle ingiurie frà privati /

Mode of access: Internet.

Il Petrarca : con l'espositione d'Alessandro Vellutello e con piu utili cose in diversi luoghi di quella novissimamente da lui aggiunte et ristampate.

Mode of access: Internet.

Roma antica /

Frontispiece port. of Nardini, v. 1, by L. Carlini. Illustrations new to this edition engraved by G. Acquaroni, G. Balzar, Giuseppe Mochetti and Angelo Testa, after drawings by Antonio de Romanis, Francesco Piranesi, Rosino, Angelo Uggeri, Giovanni Battista Vergani. Plates depicting coins by Carlo Ruspi.

Hādhā huwa al-kitāb al-musammá bi-al-Mabdaʼ wa-al-maʻād al-mushtamil ʻalá fannayn fann fī al-rubūbīyat wa-fann fī ʻilm al-nafs [microform] /

Caption title.

Vita di Santa Teresa di Gesu', fondatrice degli scalzi e scalze dell'ordine di Nostra Signora del carmine,

Mode of access: Internet.