Human decidua: a source of cachectin-tumor necrosis factor

Roberto Romero*, Moshe Mazor, Kirk Manogue, Enrique Oyarzun, Anthony Cerami

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

77 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cachectin-tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) has been implicated as a possible signal for the initiation of human parturition in the setting of infection. These studies were conducted to determine whether human decidua can produce TNF-α in response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Decidual explants from women undergoing elective cesarean sections were incubated with and without Escherichia coli LPS (25 ng/ml) for 20 h. TNF-α concentration in the conditioned media was measured with an enzyme-linked immunoassay and bioassay (L929 bioassay). While conditioned media from unstimulated decidual explants contained either undetectable or low levels of TNF-α, conditioned media from LPS stimulated decidua contained TNF-α (mean = 2.6 pmol/mg protein per 20 hours, SEM ± 1.03). There was a strong correlation between the immunoreactive and bioactive TNF-α (Spearman rank correlation r = 0.76, P < 0.001). We conclude that human decidua in vitro can produce TNF-α in response to LPS.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)123-127
Number of pages5
JournalEuropean Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology
Volume41
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 13 Sep 1991
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Supported by grants from the Walter Scott Foundation for Medical Research,R .R. is a recipient of a Physician Scientist Award from the National Instituteso f Health.

Keywords

  • Cachectin-tumor necrosis factor
  • Chorioamnionitis
  • Decidua
  • Intra-uterine infection
  • Prematurity
  • Preterm labor
  • endotoxin

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