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Eclampsia, the occurrence of generalized convulsion(s) in association with signs of preeclampsia [PE] (hypertension and proteinuria) in pregnancy has remained a significant public threat in Nigeria, contributing to maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. This study was a comparative cross-sectional study conducted in some selected hospitals in Kaduna State, between April 2014 and November 2015.

Blood (3 mls) was collected into an ethylenediaminetetraaccetic acid (EDTA) vacutainer tube from third trimester women diagnosed with eclampsia (EC; n = 38) and healthy pregnant controls (PC; n = 38)—age and parity matched and healthy non-pregnant controls (NPC; n = 38)—age matched. T Cell subpopulations and Complete Blood Count levels were measured by Sysmex, Auto blood analyzer and flow cytometry respectively. Participants with smear positive malaria, seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), any other clinical infection or refused consent were excluded from this study. Data obtained were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Post Hoc test. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered to be significant.

Overall, results showed a depressed (mean ± Standard deviation (SD): CD3+ T cell (65.6 ± 15.5%; 1225.5 ± 401.5 cell/μL), CD4+ T cell (36.1 ± 8.7%; 657.1 ± 189.9 cell/μL), and a low CD4/CD8 value in women with EC (1.4 ± 0.5) and PC (1.5 ± 0.3) compared to NPC (1.9 ± 0.6) control (p < 05), while the total white blood cell count, and differential percentage neutrophils count were noted to be elevated among the eclamptic women (9.8 ± 4.9 × 109/L; 70.3 ± 12 …