THE ENDOCANNABINOID SYSTEM IS PRESENT IN THE CERVIX OF PREGNANT MICE AND IS INVOLVED IN PRETERM LABOR INDUCED BY LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE ADMINISTRATION.

HERRERO LO GUIDICE, FELISA MARIA; MARVALDI, CAROLINA; SCHANDER, JULIETA AYLEN; AISEMBERG, JULIETA; FRANCHI, ANA MARIA; WOLFSON, MANUEL LUIS

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Reunion conjunta SAIC SAI SAFIS 2018; 2018

SAIC

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is one of the numerous signalingpathways that have been involved in the pathophysiology ofpregnancy. In our laboratory, we have previously demonstrated thepresence of the ECS in implantation sites and infiltrating immunecells in a murine model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced embryonicresorption. On the other hand, in an in-vivo LPS-inducedpreterm labor model, we have observed that the immune challengeproduced an augmentation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activityin the cervix. Based on these premises, the objective of thepresent study was to investigate the presence and possible modulationof the ECS in cervical tissue in LPS-induced preterm labormodel. Furthermore, we proposed to study the metalloproteinaseactivity changes induced by LPS and its possible modulation for theECS in vitro. In first place we evaluated protein levels of CB1, CB2,NAPE-PLD and FAAH in cervical tissue from pregnant balb/c miceon 15 day of pregnancy, treated or not with LPS. We demonstratedthe presence of all the components of de ECS in the cervix and wefound that the immune challenge downregulates the expression ofFAAH protein. On the other hand, we utilized an in vitro model toevaluate MMP9 and MMP2 activity. Briefly, cervix from 15 day pregnantmice were obtained and cultured in presence or not of LPS for 6hours. MMPs gelatinase activity was evaluated by zymography. Wefound that LPS increased significantly MMP9 and MMP2 gelatinaseactivity in cervix (P<0.05) and preliminary data showed that an specificantagonist of CB1 could be modulating MMPs activity, reducingit to control levels. Collectively, we showed that the ECS is present inthe cervical tissue and probably it is involved in cervical remodeling.