Aspectos imunológicos da gestação: uma revisão de literatura

Abstract

During pregnancy, significant changes occur in the body of women, among them, changes in the immune system. Maternal and fetal immunological binding is extremely important for stable preservation of healthy pregnancy, so that the fetus has paternal antigens that are foreign to mother may be considered a graft semi-alogenic, which would normally be rejected. There are few data and publications that seek to understand how does the maternal fetal immune interaction and what are the main mechanisms that act in this process. Because of this, this article aims to discuss the immunological aspects involved in pregnancy, through the description of the main mechanisms that act on it. The databases used were PUBMED and SCIELO. The inclusion criteria were used: articles published in English and Portuguese between 2005 and 2014, study type literature review and the full text available. The exclusion criterion was: items that do not define gestational immunology and its main mechanisms of action. The descriptors used were: Gestational Immunology; Immunology of pregnancy; Pregnancy and Immune System. Immunological tolerance in the maternal-fetal interface is very important for the progression of pregnancy, and this interface is comprised of some molecular and cellular mechanisms. These mechanisms used to induce maternal-fetal tolerance and ensure a successful pregnancy are the expression of regulatory cytokines, IL-10 example; control of cellular components (macrophages, T lymphocytes and NK cells); the action of the hormone progesterone hormone as an immunosuppressant; the expression of histocompatibility molecules, in particular HLA-G to control the cytolytic activity of NK cells; control of the complement system and activation; the activation of a Th2 immune response. To occur the normal progression of a pregnancy is necessary for the performance of the endocrine system and the immune system is integrated through mechanisms that operate in the immune and hormonal tolerance between the mother and the fetus.