Stress increases VCAM-1 expression at the fetomaternal interface in an abortion-prone mouse model

PRADOS, M.B.; SOLANO, M.E.; FRIEBE, A.; BLOIS, S.; ARCK, P.; MIRANDA, S.

JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE IMMUNOLOGY.

ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD

Año: 2011 vol. 89 p. 207 - 211

0165-0378

Sound stress exposure increases fetal loss via inflammatory pathways. Inflammation is known to up-regulate cell adhesion molecules, such as vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), which mediates the adhesion of leukocytes to the vascular endothelium. In this work, we studied the frequency of VCAM-1+ vessels at the fetomaternal interface in stressed and non-stressed pregnant CBA/J female mice mated with DBA/2J (high fetal loss model) or BALB/c (low fetal loss model) males. The high fetal loss model had fewer large vessels on gestation day 6.5, and stress reduced the frequency of large vessels to a similar number in both high and low fetal loss models. In the high fetal loss model, however, the frequency of VCAM-1+ vessels was dramatically increased. This study shows that VCAM-1 expression is modulated by stress at the fetomaternal interface in abortion-prone cross-breeding. © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.