ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) is a non-classical class I HLA molecule shown to regulate the immunomodulation of maternal immune cells to prevent fetal tissue destruction. Low levels of freely circulating maternal soluble HLA-G (sHLA-G) have been observed in pre-eclampsia, however, no pooled evidence exists. This meta-analysis aimed to generate pooled findings on the association of sHLA-G levels with pre-eclampsia and is the first study to perform a trimester-wise comparison of the levels of sHLA-G in preeclamptic cases and normal pregnant controls. METHODS: The databases PubMed, Emba, Web of Science, and Google Scholar through May 31, 2023. Preeclamptic women were defined as cases and normal pregnancies as controls. Data on the level of sHLA-G in cases and controls was extracted and subjected to a meta-analysis using a random-effects model. The pooled effect was expressed in terms of standardized mean difference (SMD). Sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the effect of the exclusion of each study on the pooled results. Publication bias was assessed statistically. RESULTS: Nine studies with altogether 567 PE cases and 1132 normal pregnancy controls were included in the meta-analysis. The first and third trimester levels of sHLA-G in PE cases were significantly lower than that of normal pregnant controls: (SMD: -0.84 [-1.29; -0.38]; p = .003; I2 = 54%) and (SMD: -0.39 [-0.71; -0.06]; p = .02; I2 = 79%) respectively. Sensitivity analysis revealed significant fluctuations in the pooled findings when few studies were excluded, raising questions on the consistency of results among studies. CONCLUSION: Although we found that first and third-trimester sHLA-G levels in pre-eclampsia are significantly lower, taking into consideration the inconsistent results from the sensitivity analysis, our findings advocate the demand for more studies with larger sample sizes to generate solid ground pooled evidence on the predictive role of sHLA-G in pre-eclampsia.
Subject(s)
Pre-Eclampsia , Pregnancy , Humans , Female , HLA-G Antigens , Fetus , BiomarkersABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is the common complication seen after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and a pleomorphic syndrome that resembles autoimmune and other immunologic disorders, leading to profound immune dysregulation and organ dysfunction. The most common targets of GVHD are skin, gastrointestinal tract and liver. GVHD is classified as acute graft versus host disease (aGvHD) if it occurs within the first 100 days after HSCT and chronic graft versus host disease(cGVHD) if it occurs after day 100. The skin is most frequently and earliest affected by aGvHD, followed by the gastrointestinal tract and liver. An ideal biomarker would predict the onset and severity of clinical acute GVHD and help to direct management, and this is an area of active research regarding the use of biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of acute GVHD. Recently, elafin has been identified as a potential plasma biomarker for aGVHD. METHOD: We searched the databases PubMed, Cochrane library, and medRxiv for all studies investigating the Diagnostic or prognostic role of elafin in GVHD. We set the search strategy incorporating the search terms, 'elafin', 'graft versus host', and 'GVHD', and operated using the Boolean operators 'AND', and 'OR'. Thus, retrieved articles were then exported on an Excel® sheet, and duplicates were removed. The systematic review was performed in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. After selecting the study based on inclusion criteria, data on study characteristics and biomarker description was extracted on a pre-determined data extraction table on the Microsoft Excel version. The quality assessment of the included studies was determined using the QUIPS tool. RESULT: The search revealed 547 studies and 6 studies that met the eligibility criteria of this review have been included. The major finding of our study is the significant elevation of elafin in skin aGVHD. CONCLUSION: Elafin is a significant biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis of skin aGVHD and should be assessed within 2 weeks of the onset of the disease.