Differential distribution of CD4(+)CD25(bright) and CD8(+)CD28(-) T-cells in decidua and maternal blood during human pregnancy.

During pregnancy several maternal and fetal mechanisms are established to prevent a destructive immune response against the allogeneic fetus. Despite these mechanisms, fetus specific T-cells persist throughout gestation but little is known about the regulation of these T-cells. Recently, CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T-cells have been identified in human decidua. Human decidua forms the maternal part of the fetal-maternal interface and is subdivided in two distinct regions: the decidua (d.) basalis and the decidua (d.) parietalis. The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of specific T-cell subsets in d. basalis and d. parietalis in early and term pregnancy, with a special emphasis on the presence of CD4(+)CD25(bright) (regulatory) T-cells and CD8(+)CD28(-) (suppressor) T-cells. In addition, we compared phenotypic characteristics of decidua derived T-cell subsets with maternal peripheral blood (mPBL) T-cells and T-cells from non-pregnant controls. We identified significantly higher percentages of CD4(+)CD25(bright) and CD8(+)CD28(-) T-cells in decidua compared to peripheral blood suggesting an important role for these T-cell subsets locally at the fetal-maternal interface. The major differences in T-cell subset distribution and the presence of additional phenotypic differences between T-cells in d. basalis, d. parietalis and mPBL may reflect specific immunomodulatory functions of these T-cell subsets at these different sites during pregnancy.

Bcl-2 protein expression is not related to short survival in multiple myeloma.

The oncoprotein bcl-2 can be expressed in malignant plasma cells and might play a role in the prevention of corticosteroid-mediated apoptosis, thereby prolonging survival of the myeloma cells. We retrospectively investigated whether bcl-2 expression in bone marrow plasma cells measured by two-color fluorescence for immunoglobulin light chains would be related to survival duration in patients suffering from multiple myeloma. In all patients the large majority of plasma cells expressed bcl-2 (median 91%, range 74-100%). Contrary to our expectations, a tendency was observed toward higher percentages bcl-2+ plasma cells in patients with a long survival (more than 5 years, n = 9) vs patients who died from refractory myeloma within a year of diagnosis (n = 7). This tendency was found even when analysis was extended to include four patients in the short diagnosis group (n = 11) who had received chemotherapy prior to bone marrow examination.