Evaluation of peripheral blood CD3-CD56+CD16+NK cells percentage and count in pregnant women with IUGR fetus compared to pregnant women with normal fetus

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is one of the pregnancy problems that can be caused by improper vascular changes. Due to the role of NK cells in IUGR and the difficulties of studying them in tissues, it is necessary to study them in peripheral blood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the percentage and number of peripheral blood CD3-CD56+CD16+NK cells in pregnant women with IUGR fetus.. 18 pregnant women with IUGR fetus and 15 pregnant women with healthy fetus were invited. The number and percentage of peripheral blood CD3-CD56+CD16+NK cells in both groups were assessed by flow cytometry. The percentage of CD3-CD56+CD16+NK cells in the patient and healthy groups was 24.11 and 26.17, respectively. The number of these cells was 97.27 in the patient and 129.7 in the healthy group. No significant difference was observed between the two groups by Mann-Whitney analysis. Spearman analysis showed a significant relationship between age and NK cells in the patient group. The comparison of percentage and number of CD3-CD56+CD16+NK cells in the patient group with the control group was not significantly different which could be due to the lack of analysis of NK cell subgroups. In future studies, analysis of NK subtypes should be investigated. Considering the significant relationship between age and the number and percentage of NK cells in the patient group, it seems that increasing age as a negative factor is associated with a decrease in these cells.