Human decidua: a source of cachectin-tumor necrosis factor.
Cachectin-tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) 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-alpha 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-alpha 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-alpha, conditioned media from LPS stimulated decidua contained TNF-alpha (mean = 2.6 pmol/mg protein per 20 hours, SEM +/- 1.03). There was a strong correlation between the immunoreactive and bioactive TNF-alpha (Spearman rank correlation r = 0.76, P less than 0.001). We conclude that human decidua in vitro can produce TNF-alpha in response to LPS.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510.
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R
Romero
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M
Mazor
K
K
Manogue
E
E
Oyarzun
A
A
Cerami
D003656:Decidua / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000209:etiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000503:physiopathology; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha