Investigation of preterm birth from the view point of innate immunity

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K09731
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Embryonic/Neonatal medicine
• Research Institution: Nippon Medical School
• Principal Investigator: Shima Yoshio 日本医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (70714765)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 根岸 靖幸 日本医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (50644580)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 周産期 / 早産 / 絨毛膜羊膜炎 / 自然免疫

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Mechanisms of preterm birth without verified intrauterine infection was investigated, by analyzing profiles of immune cells in the placental tissue obtained from preterm birth according to the presence of histological placental inflammation.
Activated dendritic cells accumulated in preterm placenta compared to those of term without in-labor. Predominant accumulation of NKT cells was observed in preterm placenta with histological inflammation, while that of NK cells in preterm placenta of absent histological inflammation. The accumulation of CD 8 positive and CD 4 positive T-cells were not significantly different in preterm placenta regardless of histological inflammation. We concluded that innate immunity, interaction between dendritic and NKT cells, could stimulate the onset of preterm labor in the absence of evident infection.

Free Research Field

胎児・新生児医学