Repeated lipopolysaccharide exposure leads to placental endotoxin tolerance.
Publication/Presentation Date
2-1-2019
Abstract
PROBLEM: Placental infection induces increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which have been implicated in the pathogenesis of pre-term labor. Endotoxin tolerance is a phenomenon in which exposure to a dose of endotoxin makes tissue less responsive to subsequent exposures. The objective of our study was to determine whether repeated exposure to endotoxin will induce a tolerant phenotype in normal human second-trimester placental tissue.
METHODS OF STUDY: Human second-trimester placental explants from elective termination of pregnancy were cultured and exposed to endotoxin (LPS). After 24 hours, the media was collected for analysis, and the explants were re-exposed to LPS after adding fresh media for another 24 hours. This process was repeated for a total of 4 LPS doses. The media was collected from each day and analyzed for cytokine levels.
RESULTS: The first LPS treatment stimulated the secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and TNF-α. However, their production was significantly diminished with repeated LPS doses. Production of the anti-inflammatory cytokines, IL-1ra and IL-10, was also stimulated by the first LPS treatment, but secretion was more gradually and moderately decreased with repeated LPS doses compared to the pro-inflammatory cytokines. The ratios of the anti-inflammatory/pro-inflammatory mediators (IL-1ra/IL-1β and IL-10/TNF-α) indicate a progressively more anti-inflammatory milieu with repeated LPS doses.
CONCLUSION: Repeated LPS exposure of human second-trimester placental tissues induced endotoxin tolerance. We speculate that endotoxin tolerance at the maternal-fetal interface will protect the fetus from exaggerated inflammatory responses after repeated infectious exposure.
Volume
81
Issue
2
First Page
13080
Last Page
13080
ISSN
1600-0897
Published In/Presented At
Kim, M. L., Maloney, C., Klimova, N., Gurzenda, E., Lin, X., Arita, Y., Walker, T., Fazzari, M. J., & Hanna, N. (2019). Repeated lipopolysaccharide exposure leads to placental endotoxin tolerance. American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989), 81(2), e13080. https://doi.org/10.1111/aji.13080
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
30586203
Department(s)
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Document Type
Article