Phagocytic index of neutrophil granulocytes and monocytes in healthy and preeclamptic pregnancy

• The phagocytic function of granulocytes and monocytes was examined in normal and preeclamptic pregnancy.
• To our knowledge there are no scientific data on this topic.
• The phagocytic index decreased significantly in healthy pregnancy compared with the non-pregnant state.
• The phagocytic index decreased significantly in preeclampsia compared with the healthy pregnant state.

Neutrophil granulocytes and monocytes have been intensively studied, but there is no scientific data on one of their most important functions, namely the phagocyte function in pregnancy and preeclampsia. The aim of this study was to examine this function. Twenty-five healthy pregnant, 25 preeclamptic pregnant, and 20 healthy, non-pregnant women were enrolled into our study. Cells were isolated from peripheral blood samples, marked and evaluated for the phagocytic index with an immunofluorescent microscope after phagocytosing the zymosan molecules. The phagocytic function of monocytes and neutrophil granulocytes decreased significantly in healthy pregnancy compared with non-pregnant women and in preeclampsia, and it decreased significantly compared with healthy pregnancy. Decreased phagocytic function in healthy pregnancy can be a part of the maternal immunosuppression, which is essential for the protection of the hemiallograft fetus. Further reduction of phagocytic function may be one of the immunoregulatory abnormalities found in preeclampsia.