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Uterine overdistention induces preterm labor mediated by inflammation: observations in pregnant women and nonhuman primates

Uterine overdistention induces preterm labor mediated by inflammation: observations in pregnant women and nonhuman primates
Published: 
Sep 2016
Publisher: 
Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2015 Dec;213(6):830.e1-830.e19. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2015.08.028. Epub 2015 Aug 15.
Author: 
Kristina M. Adams Waldorf, M.D.

Adams Waldorf KM1, Singh N2, Mohan AR3, Young RC4, Ngo L5, Das A3, Tsai J6, Bansal A7, Paolella L8, Herbert BR3, Sooranna SR3, Gough GM9, Astley C9, Vogel K9, Baldessari AE9, Bammler TK6, MacDonald J6, Gravett MG10, Rajagopal L11, Johnson MR12.

Author information

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Uterine overdistention is thought to induce preterm labor in women with twin and multiple pregnancies, but the pathophysiology remains unclear. We investigated for the first time the pathogenesis of preterm birth associated with rapid uterine distention in a pregnant nonhuman primate model.

STUDY DESIGN:

A nonhuman primate model of uterine overdistention was created using preterm chronically catheterized pregnant pigtail macaques (Macaca nemestrina) by inflation of intraamniotic balloons (N = 6), which were compared to saline controls (N = 5). Cesarean delivery was performed due to preterm labor or at experimental end. Microarray, quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, Luminex (Austin, TX), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to measure messenger RNA (mRNA) and/or protein levels from monkey (amniotic fluid, myometrium, maternal plasma) and human (amniocytes, amnion, myometrium) tissues. Statistical analysis employed analysis of covariance and Wilcoxon rank sum. Biomechanical forces were calculated using the law of Laplace.

RESULTS:

Preterm labor occurred in 3 of 6 animals after balloon inflation and correlated with greater balloon volume and uterine wall stress. Significant elevations of inflammatory cytokines and prostaglandins occurred following uterine overdistention in an "inflammatory pulse" that correlated with preterm labor (interleukin [IL]-1β, tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α, IL-6, IL-8, CCL2, prostaglandin E2, prostaglandin F2α, all P < .05). A similar inflammatory response was observed in amniocytes in vitro following mechanical stretch (IL1β, IL6, and IL8 mRNA multiple time points, P < .05), in amnion of women with polyhydramnios (IL6 and TNF mRNA, P < .05) and in amnion (TNF-α) and myometrium of women with twins in early labor (IL6, IL8, CCL2, all P < .05). Genes differentially expressed in the nonhuman primate after balloon inflation and in women with polyhydramnios and twins are involved in tissue remodeling and muscle growth.

CONCLUSION:

Uterine overdistention by inflation of an intraamniotic balloon is associated with an inflammatory pulse that precedes and correlates with preterm labor. Our results indicate that inflammation is an early event after a mechanical stress on the uterus and leads to preterm labor when the stress is sufficiently great. Further, we find evidence of uterine tissue remodeling and muscle growth as a common, perhaps compensatory, response to uterine distension.

Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PMID:  26284599