Role of chemerin/CMKLR1 in the maintenance of early pregnancy / 医学前沿

Chemerin is a cytokine that attracts much attention in the reproductive process. This study aimed to explore the effects of chemerin and its receptor chemokine-like receptor 1 (CMKLR1) on the maintenance of early pregnancy. The expression levels of chemerin and CMKLR1 in the decidua tissues of 20 early normal pregnant women and 20 early spontaneous abortion women were examined by Western blot and real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses. CMKLR1 receptor antagonist (α-NETA) was then intrauterinely injected into normal pregnant mice model to assess its effect on the outcome of pregnancy and the phosphorylation rate of ERK1/2 in decidua tissues.We found that the expression level of chemerin in women who had experienced early spontaneous abortion was lower than in those who had experienced normal early pregnancy (P < 0.01); conversely, CMKLR1 expression was higher in the former than in the latter (P < 0.01). In a pregnant-mouse model, the embryo resorption rate of α-NETA group was higher than that in the negative control group (61.5% vs. 10.8%) (P < 0.001). Compared with the control group, ERK1/2 phosphorylation in decidua tissues decreased in the α-NETA-treated group (P < 0.01). These results suggested that the inhibition of the chemerin/CMKLR1 signaling pathway can lead to the abortion of mouse embryos, and that chemerin/CMKLR1 may play an important role in the maintenance of early pregnancy possibly by regulating ERK1/2 phosphorylation.

Predictable ultrasonographic findings of early abortion

Early fetal growth delay and early oligohydramnios have been suspected as signs of embryonal jeopardy. However, little information is available for the prediction of early abortion. Sonographic examination of 111 early pregnancies between the sixth and ninth gestational week with regular, 28 day menstrual cycles was performed to investigate predictable sonographic findings of early abortion. Sonographic measurements of the gestational sac (G-SAC), crown-rump length (CRL) and fetal heart rate (FHR) were performed using a linear array real time transducer with Doppler. All measurements of 17 early abortions were compared to those of 94 normal pregnancies to investigate the objective rules for the screening of early abortion. Most of the early aborted pregnancies were classified correctly by discriminant analysis with G-SAC and CRL (G-SAC = 0.5222 CRL + 14.6673 = 0.5 CRL + 15, sensitivity 76.5% specificity 96.8%). With the addition of FHR, 94.1% of early abortions could be predicted. In conclusion, sonographic findings of early intrauterine growth retardation, early oligohydromnios and bradycardia can be predictable signs for the poor prognosis of early pregnancies.