Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to determine whether experimental intrauterine inflammation could induce necrotizing funisitis, a severe, chronic inflammation of the umbilical cord. Fetuses, randomly divided into four groups (n = 4 each), were infused with 50 μg/d of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) intravenously on d 125–129 of gestation (G-CSF group), 20 mg of endotoxin into the amniotic cavity on d 127 gestation (endotoxin group), both G-CSF and endotoxin (G-CSF + endotoxin group), or only saline (control group). On d 130 of gestation, the umbilical cords were processed for histologic analysis, scored for degree of inflammation, and compared statistically. At birth, the blood polymorphonuclear leukocyte counts in G-CSF and G-CSF + endotoxin groups were significantly higher than those in endotoxin and control groups (p < 0.05). The inflammatory score of the umbilical cord in G-CSF + endotoxin group was significantly higher than those in the other three groups (p < 0.05). All the fetuses in G-CSF + endotoxin group had necrotizing funisitis, but none of the fetuses in the other three groups developed this condition. An increase in blood polymorphonuclear leukocytes before their activation in the umbilical cord is probably essential for experimentally inducing necrotizing funisitis.
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Abbreviations
- CLD:
-
chronic lung disease
- G-CSF:
-
granulocyte-colony stimulating factor
- PMNL:
-
polymorphonuclear leukocyte
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Satoru Okajima, M.D., and Keiko Ueda, M.D., for their technical assistance.
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Support provided by the Ogyaa Donation Foundation of the Japan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 13671686) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan.
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Watanabe, T., Matsuda, T., Hanita, T. et al. Induction of Necrotizing Funisitis by Fetal Administration of Intravenous Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor and Intra-Amniotic Endotoxin in Premature Fetal Sheep. Pediatr Res 62, 670–673 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1203/PDR.0b013e31815991bf
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/PDR.0b013e31815991bf
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