Regulation of decidual cell and chorion cell production of interleukin-10 by purified bacterial products.

PROBLEM

To determine whether cultured human decidual cells and chorion cells produce interleukin-10 (IL-10) after incubation with purified bacterial products.

METHOD OF STUDY

Decidual cell cultures and chorion cell cultures were established by standard techniques. With confluence, monolayers of each culture were incubated with purified bacterial products, including various concentrations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), lipid A, and lipoteichoic acid (LTA) for 16 hr in quadruplicate. Culture supernatants were collected and assayed for immunodetectable IL-10 by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS

Both decidual cell cultures and chorion cell cultures produced significant quantities of IL-10 after stimulation with LPS, lipid A, and LTA. Cultures of decidual cells produced more IL-10 than did chorion cell cultures.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data indicate that both maternal decidual cells and fetally derived chorion cells can produce IL-10 after incubation with bacterial virulence factors. This finding contrasts with our previous findings in which chorion cells did not produce IL-10 after stimulation with IL-1 beta, suggesting that chorion cell production after incubation with bacterial products is independent of IL-1 beta. We speculate that the contribution of anti-inflammatory IL-10 production by human gestational tissues to the inflammatory process in these tissues may be overcome or abrogated by the pro-inflammatory process.