Neutrophil Expression of Cyclooxygenase 2 in Preeclampsia

The objective of this study was to determine: 1) if neutrophils of preeclamptic women express cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and 2) if COX-2 mediates neutrophil interleukin-8 (IL-8) production. Neutrophils were isolated from heparinized blood collected from women with preeclampsia and normal pregnancy, and from normal nonpregnant women. COX-2 protein was measured in the neutrophils of the three groups by specific ELISA. To study the role of COX-2 in IL-8 production, neutrophils of normal pregnant women were activated with arachidonic acid and incubated overnight in Medium 199 with and without NS398, a specific COX-2 inhibitor. We found that neutrophils from preeclamptic women expressed significantly more COX-2 than neutrophils from normal pregnant or normal nonpregnant women. Arachidonic acid activated neutrophils to produce IL-8 which was completely inhibited by NS398. These data demonstrate that COX-2 is expressed in neutrophils of preeclamptic women and that COX-2 mediates IL-8 production by activated neutrophils.