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Expression of interleukin-10 in human gestational tissues
M S Trautman1, D Collmer, S S Edwin
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84132, USA.
Objective:
To determine production of interleukin-10 (IL-10) by interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) in cultured decidual, chorion, and amnion cells and whether IL-10 is produced in gestational tissues under the setting of infection-associated preterm labor.
Methods:
Decidual, chorion, and amnion cells were isolated from term placentas and grown in primary culture. The cells were incubated with various concentrations of IL-1 beta and then culture supernatants were assayed for IL-10 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In subsequent studies, gestational membranes were isolated from a normal-term pregnancy and a preterm pregnancy complicated by chorioamnionitis. Tissues were evaluated for IL-10 expression by immunohistology and in situ hybridization. Human gestational tissues were collected from 38 women experiencing: 1) term cesarean delivery without labor; 2) normal-term vaginal delivery; 3) preterm cesarean delivery without labor; 4) preterm vaginal delivery without chorioamnionitis; and 5) preterm vaginal delivery with concomitant chorioamnionitis. Amnion, chorion, and decidua were isolated, total RNA from each tissue was extracted, and the presence of IL-10 mRNA was determined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
Results:
Decidual cells in culture produced IL-10 in response to IL-1 beta, but chorion and amnion cells produced no IL-10 protein. In vivo protein expression by immunohistology showed that most protein was detected within decidua while cells within amnion and chorion rarely had detectable IL-10 protein. In vivo RT-PCR samples demonstrated the strongest IL-10 mRNA signal from decidua samples, although IL-10 mRNA was also noted in chorion and amnion of placentas obtained after preterm labor.
Conclusion:
Maternal decidual cells can potentially produce IL-10, but fetal membranes (amnion and chorion) appear to have limited capabilities to produce IL-10. The relative inability of fetal tissues to produce IL-10 may play an important role in the pathophysiology of infection-associated preterm labor.