INDUCTION OF MATERNAL TOLERANCE TO FETAL ALLOANTIGENES BY RANTES PRODUCTION

RAMHORST R., PATEL R., ECHEPAREBORDA, J.J., FAINBOIM L. AND SCHUST D.J.

New Heaven, USA

Congreso; American Society For Reproductive Immunology; 2005

Progesterone, RANTES, and paternal alloantigens have been implicated in immunomodulation at the maternal-fetal interface. Here, we investigated interactions between these factors in PBMCs, endometrial T cells and endometrial epithelial cells. Ishekawa endometrial cells were stimulated with progesterone and RANTES secretion assayed. RANTES production decreased after 24h of progesterone exposure and remained suppressed through 96h. PBMCs from fertile women were exposed to progesterone and double-stained for intracellular RANTES and surface T cell markers. RANTES production by peripheral CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was significantly reduced in the presence of progesterone. In contrast, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells isolated from the endometria of fertile women increased RANTES production upon exposure to progesterone. Mixed lymphocyte reactions (MLRs) were used to investigate whether PBMC production of RANTES was altered by exposure to alloantigens. PBMCs isolated from women with recurrent pregnancy loss and stimulated with paternal lymphocytes produced lower levels of RANTES than those isolated from fertile women and stimulated with HLA-mismatched lymphocytes (p