Cytokines concentrations in the cervical mucus of pregnant women.
OBJECTIVE
Interleukin-1 alpha, interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 in specimens of cervical mucus were assayed to assess defense mechanisms against infection in the cervical canal during pregnancy.


METHODS
Two hundred and thirty-nine pregnant women who attended the obstetrics outpatient clinic in our hospital were included as subjects. Cervical mucus was collected with a newly developed collection swab, and cytokines and granulocyte elastase in the samples of cervical mucus were quantified using enzyme immunoassay kits. The 1-factor ANOVA, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and scheffé's F were used for statistical analysis.


RESULTS
Interleukin-1 alpha, interleukin-1 beta and interleukin-8 levels rose significantly as the concentrations of granulocyte elastase increased. High concentrations of interleukin-1 alpha (75.36 +/- 19.93 pg/ml), interleukin-1 beta (1005.29 +/- 238.75 pg/ml) and interleukin-8 (4822.4 +/- 633.2 pg/ml) were found in the specimens from the group of high granulocyte elastase levels.


CONCLUSIONS
These cytokines might be involved in defense mechanisms against ascending infection from the vagina.
Sagawa
T
T
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Furuta
I
I
Negishi
H
H
Kishida
T
T
Begum
S
S
Fujimoto
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002582:Cervix Mucus / Q000378:metabolism*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000378:metabolism; D010196:Pancreatic Elastase / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000378:metabolism*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D013997:Time Factors
D016207:Cytokines; D007375:Interleukin-1; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016209:Interleukin-8; D010196:Pancreatic Elastase