S. Tangri et R. Raghupathy, EXPRESSION OF CYTOKINES IN PLACENTAS OF MICE UNDERGOING IMMUNOLOGICALLY MEDIATED SPONTANEOUS FETAL RESORPTIONS, Biology of reproduction, 49(4), 1993, pp. 850-856
It is clear that the immune system and the reproductive system interac
t with and influence each other and that the immune system can have po
sitive and negative regulatory effects on the outcome of pregnancy. Th
e discovery of murine models of immunologically mediated spontaneous f
etal resorptions has proved to be very useful for the study of immunol
ogical influences on pregnancy. In an attempt to elucidate the mechani
sms underlying pregnancy impairment in one such ''natural'' model of p
regnancy loss, we compared the expression of the cytokines tumor necro
sis factor alpha, interferon tau, and interleukin-2 in placental tissu
e from a resorption-prone strain combination with the expression from
a normal combination. We found significantly enhanced expression of th
ese three cytokines in placentas from the resorption-prone combination
using dot-blot hybridization and Northern hybridizations. Since these
cytokines are abortifacients in vivo and have detrimental effects on
the placenta, and hence on fetal development and survival, our demonst
ration of enhanced expression of these deleterious cytokines may give
insight into the mechanisms involved in immunologically mediated spont
aneous abortions.