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Fiorella Miceli, Anna Tropea, Francesca Minici, Pierluigi Navarra, Antonio Lanzone, Rosanna Apa, Interleukin-1β Stimulates Progesterone Production by in Vitro Human Luteal Cells: Evidence of a Mediatory Role of Prostaglandins, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 88, Issue 6, 1 June 2003, Pages 2690–2694, https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2002-020819
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We have investigated whether IL-1β, a cytokine with an important role in ovarian physiology, is also involved in progesterone (P) synthesis in human luteal cells, and whether this effect is mediated via the cyclooxygenase (COX) pathway. Human luteal cells were cultured for 24 h in the presence of IL-1β (0.01–10 ng/ml), given alone or in combination with human chorionic gonadotropin (100 ng/ml), indomethacin (1 μg/ml), or P (100 ng/ml). We observed a significant increase in prostaglandin (PG)release after IL-1β treatment; the cytokine was more effective on PGE2 than PGF2α release. The effect of IL-1β was abolished by human chorionic gonadotropin, which had no action on basal PG levels when given alone; in contrast, P reduced basal, but not IL-1β-stimulated, PG production. Treatment with the human IL-1 receptor antagonist was associated with a decrease in both basal and IL-1β-stimulated PG production. Moreover, IL-1β induced a concentration-dependent increase in P production and release, an effect counteracted by the COX inhibitor indomethacin.
In conclusion, our data show the ability of IL-1β to influence P secretion via the COX pathway, thereby suggesting a possible luteotropic role in human ovary based on an autocrine-paracrine mechanism.
