Tumor necrosis factor during pregnancy and at the onset of labor and spontaneous abortion

Objective: the aim of this study was to evaluate the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) by peripheral blood cells during pregnancy, at the onset of labor and of spontaneous abortion (SA), as well as in non-pregnant women with and without a history of recurrent spontaneous abortions (RSA). Study design: the peripheral blood cells TNF production was evaluated in 28 women in the Ist trimester of pregnancy, 21 in the 2nd, and 30 in the 3rd, 47 at term labor; 43, at the onset of SA; 19 healthy and 19 RSA non-pregnant women. the statistical method used was the Mann-Whitney test. Results: We observed (1) lack of TNF detection in the Ist gestational trimester; (2) increase of TNF production with gestational age, with the highest values being observed at labor (P