American journal of reproductive immunology : AJRI
-
Am. J. Reprod. Immunol. · Jul 2015
The Stress-responsive Heme Oxygenase (HO)-1 Isoenzyme is Increased in Labouring Myometrium where it Regulates Contraction-associated Proteins.
Sterile inflammation through activation of cytokine receptor signalling pathways and viral or bacterial infection via activation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) induces a cascade of events that leads to myometrial contractions and spontaneous preterm delivery. In non-pregnant tissues, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is thought to play a central role in regulating the inflammatory response. Thus, the aims of this study were to determine the effect of human term labour on HO-1 expression in human myometrium and to investigate the role of HO-1 in myometrial primary cells in response to cytokine- and TLR ligand-induced inflammation. ⋯ Collectively, these findings in myometrium indicate HO-1 expression is increased with labour and exerts pro-inflammatory effects via NF-κB during cytokine- and TLR ligand-induced inflammation.