Choriodecidual inflammation: a harbinger of the preterm labor syndrome.
Causal, cellular, and inflammatory links between choriodecidual infection with group B streptococcus (GBS) and preterm labor were assessed in a nonhuman primate model. Rhesus monkeys received varying doses of a clinical isolate of GBS, type III or saline, via an indwelling catheter placed between the chorion/decidua and myometrium in the lower pole of the uterus. Choriodecidual inoculation of GBS was followed by a graded response in amniotic fluid (AF) leukocytes, proinflammatory cytokines, prostaglandin E(2) and F(2alpha), and uterine activity (P < .05). The magnitude of the inflammatory response in AF was related, in part, to the initial inoculum size and whether AF cultures remained negative or became positive for GBS. Microbial invasion of AF was associated with advanced inflammation and preterm labor. We provide experimental evidence that choriodeciduitis is a transitional stage of intrauterine infection, which may be self-limited, remain dormant, or progress to intraamniotic infection. These data, coupled with clinical observations, suggest that choriodecidual inflammation is an antecedent event in the pathogenesis of premature cervical ripening (functional cervical insufficiency), premature rupture of the fetal membranes, or preterm labor.
Division of Reproductive Sciences, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Beaverton, Oregon 97006, USA. grigsbyp@ohsu.edu
Peta L
PL
Grigsby
Miles J
MJ
Novy
Kristina M
KM
Adams Waldorf
Drew W
DW
Sadowsky
Michael G
MG
Gravett
D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000378:metabolism; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002823:Chorion / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D003656:Decidua / Q000473:pathology*; D015232:Dinoprostone / Q000378:metabolism; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D007249:Inflammation / Q000473:pathology*; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D009215:Myometrium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D013292:Streptococcus agalactiae / Q000378:metabolism
D016207:Cytokines; D015232:Dinoprostone