Cytokine Production in the Serum and Spleen of Micefrom Day 6 to 14 of Gestation: Cytokines/Placenta/Spleen/Serum

摘要

Pregnancy, like most biologic phenomena, involves the action of cytokines. These proteinshave a short half-life and are believed to exert their effect close to their site of production,where diagnostic tests cannot be easily performed. Here we show that the cytokine contentin the maternal serum reflects cytokine production and secretion from maternal spleencells, which also correlates with production from decidual cells. We show that GM-CSF, IL-3, and IL-10 are present in the serum at specific time intervals during the first half of murinepregnancy, which correlates with their production from maternal spleen cells. PurifiedGM-CSF and IL-3 from spleen-cell-culture supernatants are biologically active molecules,able to stimulate placental-cell proliferation. Furthermore, TNF-0, which has been identifiedin many cases of fetal rejection as well as in labor, is shown to be naturally producedduring the second half of pregnancy. Additionally, within the limits of the sensitivity of thetechnique we have used, the detection of IL-4 and the absence of detectable levels of IL-2 in the maternal serum strongly comforts the hypothesis that pregnancy is a Th2-dependentphenomenon. The results presented in this paper show that the cytokine profile duringpregnancy can be monitored by simple blood tests, which may be of relevance both in thefollowup of a physiological human pregnancy and to the diagnosis of recurrent abortionsdue to cytokine imbalance.