Characterization of urocortin in human pregnancy

在人类妊娠中的定性研究(英文)

Objective To examine whether urocortin is produced locally to regulate utero-placental vascular tone during pregnancy.Methods We examined the distribution of urocortin in human placenta, fetal membranes and uterine tissue at term in the presence and absence of labor using a urocortin antibody produced in our laboratory and the immunoperoxidase staining method. Subsequently, we tested urocortin secretion from chorio-decidual cells in vitro using an immunoblot technique. Then, we tested whether urocortin is present in maternal plasma throughout gestation using a radioimmunoassay. A Sephadex G-50 column was used to examine whether immunoreactive urocortin (IR-urocortin) in maternal plasma is the same as synthetic urocortin.Results IR-urocortin was observed in vascular smooth muscle of myometrium decidual stromal cells, syncytiotrophoblast and amnion epithelium. No differences in staining intensity for urocortin were detected between tissues obtained in the absence or presence of labor. Staining intensity for IR-urocortin was greatest in the decidua, suggesting this may be the main site of urocortin production. Positive staining for urocortin was observed in 40% of chorio-decidual cells with 34% of these cells secreting urocortin under basal conditions. Urocortin was detectable in maternal plasma from 16 weeks gestation and concentrations did not change as gestation progressed. IR-urocortin in the maternal plasma eluted from a Sephadex G-50 column at the same site as synthetic urocortin and had a calculated retention co-efficient of 0.44.Conclusion This study indicates that urocortin is produced by the decidua during human pregnancy and is detectable in maternal plasma. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that urocortin is produced locally by the decidua and may act to regulate utero-placental blood flow.

目的 Urocortin是最新发现的促肾上腺皮质激素释放激素 (corticotropinreleasinghormone ,CRH)肽类家族在人类的一个新成员 ,体外实验已经证实了urocortin对人类的胎儿 胎盘循环有强大的扩血管作用。本研究旨在发现urocortin的产生、分布与分泌情况 ,以证实urocortin可能在妊娠中由局部组织产生并由此调节子宫 胎盘的血管张力。方法 我们用免疫组化的方法检测了足月妊娠自发临产及自发未临产的子宫、胎盘、胎膜、脐带组织中的urocortin分布。用细胞培养免疫印迹法检测了胎膜细胞分泌urocortin的情况。用放射免疫的方法来检测了孕期母体外周血液循环中是否含有urocortin ,并且用凝胶层析法检测从孕妇血浆中提取测得的urocortin是否与人工合成的urocortin标准品一致。结果 具有免疫活性的urocortin分布在蜕膜的间质细胞、滋养层细胞、羊膜上皮细胞和子宫平滑肌内的血管平滑肌细胞 ,自发临产及自发未临产者无明显差别 ,其中urocortin在蜕膜的分布最多提示蜕膜可能是产生urocortin的主要部位。培养的蜕膜细胞中有 4 0 %含有urocortin ,并且其中 34 %有基础状况下的分泌。从孕 16周起孕妇的外周血中可测得urocortin但是其浓度并不随孕周的增加而改变。