Kokawa K, Shikone T, Nakano R
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Wakayama Medical College, Japan.
Mol Hum Reprod. 1998 Jan;4(1):87-91. doi: 10.1093/molehr/4.1.87.
To investigate possible effects of implantation on apoptosis, we examined the cleavage of DNA in human chorionic villi and decidua in intrauterine and ectopic pregnancy. Very limited but detectable cleavage of DNA was recognized in the chorionic villi and decidua in normal pregnancy. A ladder pattern, characteristic of the apoptotic breakdown of DNA, was present in the villi in tubal pregnancy. High molecular weight DNA was predominant in the decidua in tubal pregnancy. Quantitative analysis of low molecular weight fragments of DNA revealed a significant increase in the villous tissue, together with a significant decrease in the decidual tissue, in tubal pregnancy as compared to those in normal pregnancy. An analysis in situ revealed that apoptotic cells were predominant in the syncytiotrophoblast in tubal pregnancy. In decidual tissue, labelled cells were occasionally seen in normal pregnancy, and their numbers decreased in tubal pregnancy. The present study demonstrates that apoptosis occurs in the villi, but not in the decidua in tubal pregnancy, unlike the situation in normal pregnancy. Our results suggest that the implantation site might affect the occurrence of apoptotic changes in early pregnancy of humans.
为了研究着床对细胞凋亡的可能影响，我们检测了宫内妊娠和异位妊娠时人绒毛膜绒毛及蜕膜中DNA的裂解情况。在正常妊娠的绒毛膜绒毛和蜕膜中可识别出非常有限但可检测到的DNA裂解。输卵管妊娠时绒毛中出现了DNA凋亡降解特有的梯状条带模式。输卵管妊娠时蜕膜中高分子量DNA占主导。与正常妊娠相比，对输卵管妊娠时绒毛组织中低分子量DNA片段的定量分析显示显著增加，而蜕膜组织中则显著减少。原位分析显示，输卵管妊娠时合体滋养层细胞中凋亡细胞占主导。在蜕膜组织中，正常妊娠时偶尔可见标记细胞，而在输卵管妊娠时其数量减少。本研究表明，与正常妊娠情况不同，输卵管妊娠时凋亡发生在绒毛中，而不是蜕膜中。我们的结果表明，着床部位可能影响人类早期妊娠中凋亡变化的发生。
