Significance of Interleukin Converting Enzyme/Caspase-1 in Endometrium and Decidua

花生四烯酸代谢产物的控制，如前列腺素(PG)的产生，在胚胎植入、妊娠维持、分娩等生殖生理的各个方面发挥着重要作用。由于蜕膜和子宫内膜中产生PG的关键酶--诱导型环氧合酶(COX-2)是由白介素1(IL-1)诱导的，因此本研究旨在探讨白介素1转换酶/Caspase-1在这些组织中的意义。另一方面，在我们的IVF/ICSI计划中，我们调查了胚胎移植后再植入失败的情况。在这些病例中，通过实验室检测发现存在Sjogren综合征，即众所周知的以全身外分泌腺细胞凋亡为特征的综合征，提示Caspase系统和Fas/FasL系统可能参与其中。由于强的松龙能有效地治疗这些病例，我们可能会找到一种合适的模型，从子宫内膜局部调节PG产生的角度来调查植入失败的原因。

The control of arachidonic acid metabolites production, such as prostaglandin (PG) production, has been described to act major roles in various aspects of reproductive physiology, i.e., implantation of embryo, maintenance of pregnancy, labor and delivery. Since the inducible type of cyclooxygenase (COX-2), the key enzyme of PG production, is induced by interleukin-1 (IL-1) in decidua and endometrium, the present study aimed the significance of interleukin-1 converting enzyme/Caspase-1 in these tissues.As the results, decidual tissues showed the presence of interleukin-1 converting enzyme/caspase-1 immunohistochemically which suggested the possible involvement of the enzyme in transformation of pro IL-1 to IL-1 in decidua. However, there was no significant variance between the samples collected at the times with and without labor.On the other hand, we investigated recurrent implantation failure after embryo transfer in our IVF/ICSI program. Within these cases, through laboratory tests revealed the presence of the cases with Sjogren syndrome, that is well-known syndrome characteristic of apoptosis in exocrine glands of whole body, implying the possible involvement of Caspase system and Fas/FasL system. Since these cases are effectively treated with the administration with predonisolone, we might have found an appropriate models for the investigation for implantation failure in terms of local regulation of PG production in endometrium.