Mononuclear cell subpopulations in preterm and full‐term neonates: independent effects of gestational age, neonatal infection, maternal pre‐eclampsia, maternal betamethason therapy, and mode of delivery

Blood samples from 29 preterm (24–32 weeks of gestation) and 21 full‐term (37–42 weeks of gestation) neonates were analysed for surface markers of lymphocyte subtypes and macrophages, and the effects of gestational age, neonatal infection, maternal pre‐eclampsia, maternal betamethason therapy and mode of delivery were assessed with multiple regression analysis. Gestational age alone had few independent effects (increase in CD3 + , CD8 + CD45RA + , and CD11α + cells, and decrease in CD14 + , HLA‐DR − cells) during the third trimester on the proportions of the immune cell subtypes studied. Neonatal infection and mother's pre‐eclampsia had the broadest and very opposite kinds of effects on the profile of immune cells in the blood. Infection of the neonate increased the proportions of several ‘immature’ cells (CD11α − CD20 + , CD40 + CD19 − , and CD14 + HLA‐DR − ), whereas mother's pre‐eclampsia decreased the proportions of naive cell types (CD4 + CD8 + , CD5 + CD19 + ). In addition, neonatal infection increased the proportion of T cells (CD3 + , CD3 + CD25 + , and CD4 + /CD8 + ratio, and CD45RA + cells), while maternal pre‐eclampsia had a decreasing effect on the proportion of CD4 + cells, CD4 + /CD8 + ratio, and proportions of CD11α + , CD14 + and CD14 + HLA‐DR + cells. Maternal betamethason therapy increased the proportion of T cells (CD3 + ) and macrophages (CD14 + , CD14 + HLA‐DR + ), but decreased the proportion of natural killer (NK) cells. Caesarean section was associated with a decrease in the proportion of CD14 + cells. We conclude that the ‘normal range’ of proportions of different mononuclear cells is wide during the last trimester; further, the effect of gestational age on these proportions is more limited than the effects of other neonatal and even maternal factors.