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

花生四烯酸代谢物产生的控制，如前列腺素（PG）的产生，已经被描述为在生殖生理学的各个方面起主要作用，即，胚胎植入、妊娠维持、分娩和分娩。由于IL-1在蜕膜和子宫内膜中诱导型环氧化酶（考克斯-2）是产生PG的关键酶，本研究旨在探讨IL-1转换酶/Caspase-1在蜕膜和子宫内膜中的意义。蜕膜组织显示存在白细胞介素-1转换酶/半胱天冬酶，提示该酶可能参与了蜕膜组织中IL-1前体向IL-1的转化。然而，在分娩和非分娩时收集的样本之间没有显著差异。另一方面，我们调查了IVF/ICSI计划中胚胎移植后复发性着床失败。实验室检查发现其中有Sjogren综合征的病例，这是一种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系统可能参与了Sjogren综合征的发生。由于这些情况下，有效地治疗与泼尼松龙管理，我们可能已经找到了一个合适的模型，研究种植失败的子宫内膜中的PG生产的局部调节。

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.