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AIMS: To evaluate the role of systemic angiopoietic factors in the progression of diabetic retinopathy during pregnancy. METHODS: In a prospective study of 26 pregnant women with diabetes and eight non-diabetic pregnant women, retinopathy was graded from fundus photographs. Plasma levels of angiopoietin-1, angiopoietin-2, human vascular endothelial growth factor A (hVEGF-A), and total soluble receptor of vascular endothelial growth factor (sVEGF) receptor-1 were measured during the first and third trimester and 3 months postpartum. RESULTS: In diabetic women, levels of angiopoietin-2 were 26.5 ng/ml (12.1-47.7) (median and range) during the first trimester, 2.9 ng/ml (0.6-3.5) during the third trimester, and 0.5 ng/ml (0.3-0.7) 3 months postpartum, compared with 44.3 (38.3-61.9), 5.7 (3.1-8.4) and 0.9 (0.6-4.9) ng/ml, respectively, in non-diabetic women (P = 0.002 between groups). Levels of angiopoietin-1 and sVEGF receptor-1 did not differ between the groups. Postpartum hVEGF-A levels were lowest in women with progression of retinopathy. In logistic regression analyses, progression of retinopathy during pregnancy was not explained by the levels of the angiopoietic factors. CONCLUSIONS: The circulating levels of angiopoietic factors in pregnant diabetic women were either lower than (Ang-2) or similar to (Ang-1, hVEGF-A, VEGFR-1) those levels observed in non-diabetic pregnant women. The levels of angiopoietic factors measured here appear not to be connected with the progression of retinopathy during pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human decidua of early pregnancy contains considerable numbers of CD3-CD56+ natural killer (NK) cells. In this study, two major protein products of the decidua, placental protein 14 (PP14) and placental protein 12 (PP12), were tested for the ability to regulate human NK cell activity. In vitro overnight exposure to PP14 of blood lymphocytes or purified large granular lymphocytes (LGL) resulted in suppression of cytotoxicity against K562 target cells in a 4-h 51Cr release assay. The NK inhibition was dependent on concentrations of PP14, being detectable at 5 micrograms/ml and reaching maximum at 50 micrograms/ml. Manifestation of PP14-induced NK suppression required 18-h contact with NK cells. The suppression of NK activity by PP14 was not abolished by indomethacin. In a target binding assay the number of PP14-treated LGL binding to K562 was comparable to that of untreated ones. By contrast with PP14, PP12 produced no effects on NK cells. These results indicate that PP14 suppresses the function of NK cells, which might be involved in prevention of maternal immune rejection of fetus at the fetomaternal interface.