title: The expression of interleukin-15 and interleukin-18 by human term placenta is not affected by lipopolysaccharide.
abstract: The aim of the study was to examine the stimulatory effect of the inflammatory agent lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the capacity of human term placenta to secrete interleukin (IL)-15 and IL-18. Isolated placental cotyledons from normal human term deliveries were dually perfused for ten hours with perfusion medium alone (n=5) or with perfusion medium containing LPS (1 microg/kg perfused placental tissue) (n=5). Placental tissue was collected from three different placental compartments (amnion, chorion, and placenta) before and after perfusion. The placental tissues collected were homogenized and examined for IL-15 and IL-18 by ELISA. In addition, formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded sections from term placentas before perfusion were stained by immunohistochemistry to characterize the cellular origin of placental IL-15 and IL-18. Statistical significance was determined using paired/unpaired t-test. p<0.05 was considered significant. Our results show that IL-15 and IL-18 are produced more by chorionic tissue, as compared to the amnion and placental tissues. Moreover, we show that IL-15 and IL-18 are expressed by epithelial cells of the amnion, chorionic cells of the chorion and decidual cells of the decidua. However, IL-15, but not IL-18, was expressed also by syncytiotrophoblasts of the villi. Perfusion of LPS did not affect the capacity of amnion, chorion and placental tissues to secrete IL-15 and IL-18, as compared to control. The expression of IL-15 and IL-18 in the different compartments of the human placenta suggests a possible role for these two cytokines in normal placental development, pregnancy and labor. Moreover, our results indicate that IL-15 and IL-18 are not part of the mechanism of the response of human placenta to LPS.
authors.affiliation: Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology and Immunology and BGU Cancer Research Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Alaa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amash
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huleihel
authors.forename: Sheiner
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eyal
authors.forename: Ester
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maor
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Myatt
authors.forename: Gershon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Holcberg
mesh_terms: D000650:Amnion / Q000378:metabolism; D002823:Chorion / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D019409:Interleukin-15 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010477:Perfusion; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D014327:Trophoblasts / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D019409:Interleukin-15; D020382:Interleukin-18; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides