REPROLAB, Veterinary Faculty, University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Theriogenology. 2012 Apr 15;77(7):1351-9. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2011.10.042. Epub 2012 Jan 5.
The objective was to determine the effects of corticotherapy, in the presence and absence of uterine inflammation, on proteomics of endometrial fluid from mares susceptible to endometritis. In 11 mares, estrus was induced seven times with 5 mg PGF(2α) given at 14-day intervals. The first estrus was a control (no treatment). During the third estrus, mares received glucocorticoid (GC) treatment (20 mg isoflupredone acetate) every 12 h, for three consecutive days. The fifth estrus was the Infected treatment (intrauterine infusion of 1 × 10(9) colony-forming unit/mL Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus). Finally, the seventh was a combination of GC + Infected treatment (infusion of bacteria 24 h after the first GC treatment). At 12 h after the end of each treatment, uterine samples were collected and submitted to two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) for protein separation and mass spectrometry. Both GC treatment and uterine lumen infection induced proteomic alterations in the endometrial fluid of susceptible mares, characterized by an increase, decrease, or both in the relative optic density and/or frequency of inflammatory acute phase proteins (APP), with major alterations occurring when corticotherapy was applied in the presence of an infectious process. Corticotherapy in the presence of infection increased α(1)-antitrypsin (AAT), transthyretin (TT), and actin, but reduced immunoglobulin G, whereas intrauterine infection increased haptoglobin (Hp) and apolipoprotein A-1 (ApoA-1) and decreased transferrin (TF). Infection reduced levels of α(1)-antitrypsin and transthyretin, whereas corticotherapy in the presence of infection increased their frequency. We concluded that GC influenced the immune response, not only as suppressors, but also as enhancers of local defense mechanisms, through an immunomodulatory action. Short-term corticotherapy could be beneficial for treatment of uterine infectious processes in the mare.
目的在于确定皮质激素治疗（伴或不伴子宫炎症）对易感子宫内膜炎母马的子宫内膜液蛋白质组学的影响。在 11 匹母马中，用 5mgPGF(2α)每隔 14 天诱导发情 7 次。第一次发情为对照（不治疗）。第三次发情时，每 12 小时给母马注射糖皮质激素（GC）（20mg 异氟泼尼龙乙酸酯），连续 3 天。第五次发情为感染处理（宫腔内注射 1×10(9)个菌落形成单位/ml 马链球菌兽疫亚种）。最后，第七次发情为 GC+感染处理（第一次 GC 处理后 24 小时注射细菌）。每次治疗结束后 12 小时，采集子宫样本，进行二维聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳（2D-PAGE）以分离蛋白质并进行质谱分析。GC 处理和子宫腔感染均诱导易感母马子宫内膜液蛋白质组发生变化，表现为炎症急性期蛋白（APP）的相对光密度和/或频率增加、减少或两者兼有，而当皮质激素治疗与感染过程同时发生时则会发生重大变化。感染时的皮质激素治疗增加了α(1)-抗胰蛋白酶（AAT）、转甲状腺素（TT）和肌动蛋白，但降低了免疫球蛋白 G，而宫腔内感染增加了触珠蛋白（Hp）和载脂蛋白 A-1（ApoA-1），并降低了转铁蛋白（TF）。感染降低了α(1)-抗胰蛋白酶和转甲状腺素的水平，而感染时的皮质激素治疗增加了它们的频率。我们得出结论，GC 不仅作为抑制剂，而且作为局部防御机制的增强剂，通过免疫调节作用影响免疫反应。短期皮质激素治疗可能有益于治疗母马的子宫感染性疾病。
