Immune complexes and vasoactivity generated from platelets in pre-eclampsia

Abstract

In vivo platelet activation by circulating immune complexes has been suggested as one of the underlying mechanisms in pre-eclampsia. Using a modification of the polyethylene glycol protein-A immune complex assay, inmune complexes were found in excess of the equivalent of 20 μg/ml heat aggregated IgG in fourteen out of twenty patients diagnosed as having pre-eclampsia. Only six out of nineteen normal controls were found to have similar levels of immune complexes. Furthermore, using a small volume bio-assay method, concentrations of heat aggregated IgG in excess of 20 μg/ml were found to activate platelets to release sufficient concentrations of vasoactive agents to constrict a human blood ves..