Abstract:

Objective To investigate the relationship between expression of inducible co-stimulator (ICOS) and unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA). Methods The decidual tissues and peripheral blood samples were taken from 10 patients with URSA diagnosed as inevitable abortion (URSA group) and 10 women with normal early pregnancy (normal control group), the expression of ICOS CD3+T cells and ICOS CD4+ T cells in decidual tissues and peripheral blood was detected by flow cytometry, and the expression of ICOS mRNA in decidual tissues was determined by Real-Time PCR. Results The proportion of ICOS+CD3+ T lymphocyte subsets in decidual tissues of URSA group was significantly higher than that of control group [(0.612±0.693)% vs (0.056±0.103)%, P<0.001]. The proportion of ICOS+CD4+ T lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood of URSA group was significantly higher than that of control group [(1.943±0.762)% vs (0.221±0.127)%, P<0.001]. The relative expression of ICOS mRNA in decidual tissues of URSA group was significantly higher than that of control group [(9.875±1.464) vs (2.701±1.737),P<0.05]. Conclusion Abnormal expression of ICOS in decidual tissues is closely related to the development of URSA.

Key words: inducible co-stimulator, unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion, decidua, peripheral blood