Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a common disorder of pregnancy that usually
presents with hypertension and proteinuria. The clinical presentation arises from soluble
factors released into the maternal circulation from the placenta owing to the stress of
syncytiotrophoblast, consequence of defective placentation occurring in the first half of
pregnancy. Reduced tolerance of the semiallogeneic fetus by the maternal immune
system has been proposed as first trigger leading to poor placentation. We previously
observed aberrant expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR molecules in the
syncytiotrophoblast of a subset of women with PE. Aim of this study was to investigate
abnormal expression of circulating HLA-DR in syncytiotrophoblast-derived extracellular
vesicles (STBEVs) in women with PE compared to normal pregnant women
