Preventive effect of monoclonal antibodies to intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and leukocyte function-associate antigen-1 on murine spontaneous fetal resorption.
PROBLEM: Are cell adhesion molecules involved in the murine model of immunologically-mediated spontaneous abortion? METHOD OF STUDY: Pregnant CBA/J female mice mated with DBA/2 male mice were injected with monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and leukocyte function-associate antigen-1 (LFA-1). On day 13 of gestation. viable and resorbed embryos were counted. Natural killer (NK) cell activity in the spleen, mixed lymphocyte reactions (MLR), mixed lymphocyte-placenta reactions (MLPR), and levels of interferon (IFN)-gamma were assayed. RESULTS: Significant suppression of fetal resorption was observed by the injection of MAb to ICAM-1 and LFA-1. NK cell activity and the MLR anti-(CBA/J x DBA/ 2)F1 were reduced in the antibody-treated CBA/J spleen. Moreover, the level of IFN-gamma was significantly lower in the MLPR supernatants from the antibody-treated group than those of the control group. CONCLUSIONS: One mechanism in the murine model of spontaneous abortion may be through the interaction of cell adhesion molecules, which may modulate NK cell activities and cytokine production.