This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Refaat, B.
Right arrow Articles by Ledger, W.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Refaat, B.
Right arrow Articles by Ledger, W.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, October 2009, p. 1493-1503, Vol. 16, No. 10
1071-412X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00221-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Role of Activins and Inducible Nitric Oxide in the Pathogenesis of Ectopic Pregnancy in Patients with or without Chlamydia trachomatis Infection{triangledown}

Bassem Refaat,1 Majedah Al-Azemi,1 Ian Geary,2 Adrian Eley,2 and William Ledger1*

Academic Unit of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine, Level 4, The Jessop Wing, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield S10 2SF, United Kingdom,1 Infection and Immunity Department, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2RX, United Kingdom2

Received 28 May 2009/ Returned for modification 9 July 2009/ Accepted 13 August 2009

Chlamydia trachomatis infection can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy (EP), infertility, and chronic pelvic pain in women. Activins and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) are produced by the human fallopian tube, and we speculate that tubal activins and iNOS may be involved in the immune response to C. trachomatis in humans and their pathological alteration may result in tubal pathology and the development of EP. Blood and fallopian tubes were collected from 14 women with EP. Sera were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect antibodies against chlamydial heat shock protein 60 (chsp60) and the major outer membrane protein of C. trachomatis. Confirmation of C. trachomatis serology was made using the microimmunofluorescence test. The patients were classified into three groups according to their serological results, and immunohistochemistry and quantitative reverse transcription-PCR were performed to investigate the expression of candidate molecules by tubal epithelial cells among the three groups. This is the first study to show an increase in the expression of activin βA subunit, type II receptors, follistatin, and iNOS within the human fallopian tube of EP patients who were serologically positive for C. trachomatis. A similar expression profile was observed in the fallopian tubes with detectable antibodies only against chsp60. These results were shown at the mRNA and protein levels. We suggest that tubal activin A, its type II receptors, follistatin, and NO could be involved in the microbial-mediated immune response within the fallopian tube, and their pathological expression may lead to tubal damage and the development of EP.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Academic Unit of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine, Level 4, The Jessop Wing, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield S10 2SF, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 114-2268317. Fax: 44 114-2261074. E-mail: W.Ledger{at}Sheffield.ac.uk

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 19 August 2009.

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, October 2009, p. 1493-1503, Vol. 16, No. 10
1071-412X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00221-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»