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The Role of Toll-Like Receptors (TLR-2 and -4) and Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells 1 (TREM-1) in Human Term and Preterm Labor

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Abstract

Objective

To define the role of Toll-like receptors (TLR-2, TLR-4) and triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) in pregnant human myometrium.

Study Design

Expression of TLR-2 and -4 mRNA and protein and TREM-1 mRNA was quantified in human myometrial samples. Subsequently, we investigated the effect of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) as a functional inhibitor of the TLR agonist lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

Results

Messenger RNA expression of TLR-2 and -4 was significantly higher in myometrium at term compared with preterm (P = .009 and .016, respectively). Toll-like receptor-2 protein expression was significantly higher during labor (P = .002) compared with nonlaboring samples. Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 mRNA expression was increased in both myometrium and cervix after labor at term (P < .05). Medroxyprogesterone acetate significantly suppressed LPS-induced production of interleukin 1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and IL-8 in vitro (P < .05).

Conclusion

Toll-like receptors 2and 4 and TREM-1 are expressed in human myometrium and may play a role in the mechanism of labor at term, and their functional effects are inhibited by MPA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ninewells Hospital and School of Medicine, Dundee, DD1 9SY, UK

    Refaat E. Youssef MRCOG

  2. The Queen Mother’s Hospital, Yorkhill, Glasgow, UK

    Marie Anne Ledingham MD, MRCOG

  3. Reproductive & Maternal Medicine, University of Glasgow, Third Floor, Queen Elizabeth Building, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, UK

    Shrikant S. Bollapragada MRCOG, Neil O’Gorman MB, CHB, Fiona Jordan MSc & Anne Young MSc

  4. University of Edinburgh Centre for Reproductive Biology, The Queen’s Medical Research Institute, Edinburgh, UK

    Jane E. Norman MD, FRCOG

Authors
  1. Refaat E. Youssef MRCOG
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  2. Marie Anne Ledingham MD, MRCOG
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  3. Shrikant S. Bollapragada MRCOG
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  4. Neil O’Gorman MB, CHB
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  7. Jane E. Norman MD, FRCOG
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Correspondence to Refaat E. Youssef MRCOG.

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Youssef, R.E., Ledingham, M.A., Bollapragada, S.S. et al. The Role of Toll-Like Receptors (TLR-2 and -4) and Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells 1 (TREM-1) in Human Term and Preterm Labor. Reprod. Sci. 16, 843–856 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719109336621

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719109336621

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