Circulating Immune Complexes and Hypertension in Pregnancy

Eighteen patients with preeclampsia, 10 patients with essential and 9 with transient hypertension during pregnancy, were investigated regarding circulating immune complexes by a Clqbinding assay and a PEG precipitation assay. The women were studied during pregnancy, 2 and 5 days after childbirth, and also 3 and 6 months afterwards. The frequency of circulating immune complexes was not significantly increased in any of the groups when compared with that in 18 normotensive pregnant control subjects and 19 nonpregnant controls. Thus Clqbinding and PEG-precipitable immune complexes are a feature neither of normal pregnancy, nor of pregnancy complicated by hypertension or preeclampsia.