Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
3440754 | American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology | 2006 | 5 Pages |
ObjectiveEvidence suggests that maternal infections may induce fetal inflammatory responses. Because cytokine actions may be mediated by oxidative stress, we determined whether N-acetylcysteine, an antioxidant, can blunt fetal inflammatory responses to maternal lipopolysaccharide.Study designSprague Dawley near-term rats (n = 16) received intraperitoneal lipopolysaccharide (100 μg/kg) at 30 minutes and saline solution or N-acetylcysteine (300 mg/kg) at 150 minutes. An additional group received N-acetylcysteine before and after lipopolysaccharide administration. At 6 hours, rats were killed, and fetal and maternal blood cytokines were determined.ResultsAfter maternal lipopolysaccharide administration, fetal blood interleukin-6 markedly increased (3 ± 2 to 1265 ± 574 pg/mL); N-acetylcysteine that was given before or before and after lipopolysaccharide administration reduced fetal interleukin-6 response to control levels. A similar trend was observed for interleukin-1β. No effect of N-acetylcysteine on fetal interleukin-10 levels was observed.ConclusionMaternal N-acetylcysteine inhibits fetal cytokine responses to maternal lipopolysaccharide, even when given 2 hours after lipopolysaccharide injection. These results suggest that N-acetylcysteine may protect the fetus from sequelae of maternal inflammation.