Journal
JOURNAL OF MATERNAL-FETAL & NEONATAL MEDICINE
Volume 25, Issue 11, Pages 2470-2474Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.3109/14767058.2012.684165
Keywords
Gender; fetal; blood; cytokines; pregnancy; LPS; IL-6; IL-1 beta; multiplex biomarker
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Funding
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Academic Enrichment Fund (Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario)
- Strategic Training Initiative in Research in Reproductive Health Sciences (STIRRHS)
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Objectives: To establish gender-specific differences in maternal and fetal immune response in healthy human fetuses at term. Methods: Forty-five women with elective caesarean sections for uncomplicated singleton pregnancies were recruited for two studies. Using a multiplex biomarker immunoassay system, unstimulated maternal and fetal plasma concentrations of interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-1ra, IL-6, IL-8, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1 alpha, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha were measured from one study population. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated cytokine response was measured in a second study. Results: There were no significant gender differences in either maternal or fetal unstimulated plasma cytokine concentrations, but concentrations of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1 beta and IL-6 were significantly greater in male fetal LPS-stimulated samples than in female fetal samples. Conclusions: Blood of male fetuses mounts a larger pro-inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This heightened response could be a critical pathway in promoting premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) and may be associated with life long differential gender response to infection.
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