Induction of lipopolysaccharide during pregnancy will suppress IL-6 production but not activin B

Abstract

During inflammation, proinflammatory cytokines are released by various immune cells including IL-6 and activin B. Production of proinflammatory cytokines can be suppressed by estradiol and an increase in estradiol can be found in pregnancy. The aim of this study was to determine the response of IL-6 and activin b in pregnant mice through LPS induction. There were two groups of mice consisting of 8 mice which were not pregnant and 13 pregnant mice in the 2nd week. Inflammation was induced by intraperitoneal injection of LPS Escherichia coli serotype O111:B4. After 4 hours of treatment, the mice serum was collected from their intracardiac blood to measure estradiol, IL-6 and activin B using ELISA. Pregnancy significantly reduced IL-6 levels (P=0.015) but there was no significant difference in estradiol (P=0.169) and activin B (P=0.583) levels. We also found that there was no association of E2 with IL-6 (P=0.637) and activin B (P=0.306). Pregnancy influences the inflammatory response, especially IL-6. This condition can occur because during pregnancy physiological changes occur in the body which involve various complex mechanisms in regulating the immune system.

Keywords

• activin b
• estradiol
• interleukin-6
• lipopolysaccharide