Summary
The role of progesterone in the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-MyD88-dependent signaling pathway in pre-eclampsia was studied. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from pre-eclampsia (PE) patients were subjected to primary culture, and stimulated with different concentrations of progesterone (0, 10−8, 10−6, and 10−4 mol/L). The mRNA expression of TLR4, MyD88 and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) was detected by using real-time PCR. The Ikappa-B protein expression was detected by using Western blotting. The expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the supernatant was determined by using ELISA. With the concentrations of progesterone increasing, the mRNA expression levels of TLR4, MyD88 and NF-κB in 2−ΔΔCT value were significantly decreased, and the IkappaB protein expression levels were significantly increased. The TNF-α and IL-6 expression showed a downward trend when the progesterone concentration increased, and there were significant differences among all of the groups (P<0.05). It was suggested that progesterone can inhibit the TLR4-MyD88-dependent signaling pathway in PE significantly and benefit for the pregnancy.
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Zhu, Y., Wu, M., Wu, Cy. et al. Role of progesterone in TLR4-MyD88-dependent signaling pathway in pre-eclampsia. J. Huazhong Univ. Sci. Technol. [Med. Sci.] 33, 730–734 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-013-1188-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-013-1188-6