TY - JOUR
T1 - Cytokine involvement in oocytes and early embryos
AU - Zolti, M.
AU - Ben-Rafael, Z.
AU - Meirom, R.
AU - Shemesh, M.
AU - Bider, D.
AU - Mashiach, S.
AU - Apte, R. N.
N1 - Funding Information:
Received August 10, 1990; revised and accepted April 3, 1991. * Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center and Sackler School of Medicine. t Reprint requests: Zion Ben-Rafael, M.D., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center and Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Hashomer 52621, Israel. t Department of Hormone and Immunology Research, Kimron Veterinary Institute. § Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. II R.N. Apte is supported by the Charles H. Revson Endowment Fund for Basic Research in Life Sciences of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
PY - 1991/1/1
Y1 - 1991/1/1
N2 - Objective: The early events of reproduction involve a carefully modulated complex system of oocyte maturation, fertilization, and proliferation. The aim of the study was to measure the presence of cytokines, namely interleukin 1 (IL-1), interleukin 6 (IL-6), colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in the conditioned medium (CM) of the oocytes, granulosa cells, cumulus cells, one to eight-cell embryos and sperm. Design: The material was obtained from men and women undergoing in vitro fertilization therapy. Main Outcome Measures: We hypothesized that cytokines might affect embryonic growth and differentiation as they show a pleotropic effect on immune cells. Results: All these cytokines are present in significant quantities in the CM and were shown to be expressed in a sequential manner; thus, some are present in the oocyte and its vestment, the corona-cumulus complex (IL-1, IL-6, and CSF-1), whereas TNF appears only at the stage of six to eight-cell embryos. Inflammatory cytokines could not be detected in sperm samples. Conclusions: It is possible that these cytokines have a role in the regulation of embryonic development, maternal immunological recognition of pregnancy, and maintenance of proper hormonal environment.
AB - Objective: The early events of reproduction involve a carefully modulated complex system of oocyte maturation, fertilization, and proliferation. The aim of the study was to measure the presence of cytokines, namely interleukin 1 (IL-1), interleukin 6 (IL-6), colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in the conditioned medium (CM) of the oocytes, granulosa cells, cumulus cells, one to eight-cell embryos and sperm. Design: The material was obtained from men and women undergoing in vitro fertilization therapy. Main Outcome Measures: We hypothesized that cytokines might affect embryonic growth and differentiation as they show a pleotropic effect on immune cells. Results: All these cytokines are present in significant quantities in the CM and were shown to be expressed in a sequential manner; thus, some are present in the oocyte and its vestment, the corona-cumulus complex (IL-1, IL-6, and CSF-1), whereas TNF appears only at the stage of six to eight-cell embryos. Inflammatory cytokines could not be detected in sperm samples. Conclusions: It is possible that these cytokines have a role in the regulation of embryonic development, maternal immunological recognition of pregnancy, and maintenance of proper hormonal environment.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0025871939&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0015-0282(16)54483-5
DO - 10.1016/S0015-0282(16)54483-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0025871939
SN - 1464-7273
VL - 56
SP - 265
EP - 272
JO - Human Fertility
JF - Human Fertility
IS - 2
ER -