Placental villous expression of TNF α and IL‐10 and effect of oxygen tension in euploid early pregnancy failure

Abstract

Problem: The objective was to investigate placental inflammation in chromosomally normal miscarriages in vivo and in vitro. Method of study: Chorionic villous tissue was collected from missed miscarriages and normal gestation-matched controls and cultured at 6 and 20% O2 concentrations. Tissue was karyotyped. Flowcytometric bead arrays and real-time PCR were carried out for protein and gene expression studies. Results: The levels of TNFα and IL-10 were significantly (P < 0.005 and P < 0.05) higher, and the levels of TNF-R1 and TNF-R2 were significantly (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05) lower in culture conditioned medium of villous explants of miscarriages compared to control group. Villous tissue homogenates from miscarriages contained significantly (P < 0.005) lower levels of TNF-R1. There was a significant O2-dependent increase in the secretion of IL-10 (P < 0.01) and decrease in TNFα/IL-10 ratio (P < 0.005) in the culture medium in both groups. Conclusion: Increased levels of TNFα and decreased levels of receptors in miscarriage villous tissue confirm an excessive placental inflammation in miscarriage patients.