Multivariate analysis of cytokine profiles in pregnancy complications

Problem The immunoregulation to tolerate the semiallogeneic fetus during pregnancy includes a harmonious dynamic balance between anti‐ and pro‐inflammatory cytokines. Several earlier studies reported significantly different levels and/or ratios of several cytokines in complicated pregnancy as compared to normal pregnancy. However, as cytokines operate in networks with potentially complex interactions, it is also interesting to compare groups with multi‐cytokine data sets, with multivariate analysis. Such analysis will further examine how great the differences are, and which cytokines are more different than others.