Title: The role of interleukin-1 in reproduction.

POPLINE Document Number: 075762

Author(s):

Polan ML
Schneider EG
Walsh AW
Loukides JA
Carding S
Diamond MP
Bottomly K

Source citation:

In: Growth factors in fertility regulation. Proceedings of the Symposium on Potential of Molecular Biology in Fertility Regulation: Growth Regulatory Factors, jointly sponsored by the World Health Organization and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and held at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, on September 22-24, 1988, edited by Florence P. Haseltine, Jock K. Findlay. Cambridge, England, Cambridge University Press, 1991. :339-56. (Scientific Basis of Fertility Regulation)

Abstract:

A series of investigations on the interaction between interleukin-1 (IL-1) and the reproductive system is reported, and their implications discussed. IL-1 is a 17-kDa polypeptide made by peripheral monocytes and tissue macrophages, known to be involved in various aspects of the inflammatory response such as collagenase, PGE2, osteolysis, lymphocyte stimulation, and release of several other cytokines. IL-1 was released by peripheral monocytes from male volunteers and incubated in vitro in the presence of estradiol and progesterone, at physiologic doses. Similarly, peripheral monocytes from regularly cycling women synthesized the mRNA for IL-1 in the presence of added estradiol and progesterone in vitro. Increasing doses of progesterone resulted in decreasing amounts of IL-1 mRNA, while increasing doses of estradiol gave a biphasic response. The effects were explored of physiologic levels of estradiol and progesterone on secretion of IL-1 by peripheral monocytes taken from women with cycles stimulated by human menopausal gonadotropin/hCG, before ovulation, in late luteal phase, in the midtrimester and in the third trimester of pregnancy. The most dramatic effects on release of IL-1 was in midtrimester, when progesterone decreased IL-1 production in 4 of 6 women, and progesterone with estradiol decreased IL-1 in 5 of 6 women. In another experiment, 4 cell mouse embryos were cultured with IL-1 and IL-2, without adverse effect. The response of IL-1 to gonadal steroids may be implicated in the normal postovulatory and pregnancy temperature increase. This cytokine may also be involved in the process of osteoporosis undergone by postmenopausal women, which is reversible by steroids.

Keywords:

Research Report
Proteins
Biological Characteristics
Physiology
Research Activities
Clinical Research
Menstruation
Pregnancy
Embryo
In Vitro
Human Volunteers
Estradiol
Progesterone
Body Temperature
Leukocytosis
Biology
Research Methodology
Reproduction
Estrogens
Hormones
Endocrine System
Progestational Hormones
Hematological Effects
Hemic System