Changes in the Th1 : Th2 Cytokine Bias in Pregnancy and the Effects of the Anti-Inflammatory Cyclopentenone Prostaglandin 15-Deoxy--Prostaglandin
Figure 4
The effect of 15dPGJ2 on NF-κB p65 phosphorylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. PBMCs were treated as previously described before being extracted and levels of phosphorylated p65 (p-p65) examined using immunoblotting. Representative immunoblots are shown for each gestational time point (a). Immunoblots were reprobed for β-actin as an internal loading control. Densitometric analysis of the immunoblots was conducted revealing a significant increase in p-p65 levels upon stimulation with PMA/ionomycin in all samples (b). A significant decrease in PMA/ionomycin stimulated p-p65 was observed following 15dPGJ2 treatment in 28-week samples. The capacity of 15dPGJ2 to inhibit PMA/ionomycin-induced p-p65 was lost in those samples collected at term. NS: nonstimulated, S: PMA/ionomycin stimulated, and J2: 15dPGJ2 pretreatment. Effect of treatment was examined for statistical significance at each gestational timepoint using ANOVA with Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test; ***, ** and *.
