Objective
The purpose of this study was to investigate the temporal changes in immunoreactive
cystatin A and the enzymatic activity of cathepsins B, H, L, and S in human cervicovaginal
fluid (CVF) in late pregnancy and spontaneous labor.
Study Design
CVF was collected weekly (n = 95 women) from 36 weeks gestation until spontaneous
term labor. Cystatin A was quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The
enzyme activity of cathepsins B, H, L, and S was measured with fluorometric enzyme
assay kits.
Results
Cystatin A significantly decreased towards (P = .016, 2-way analysis of variance) and during labor (P < .001, 2-way analysis of variance). Enzymatic activity of cathepsins B, H, and S
did not change with labor onset (P = .452, P = .703, P = .411, respectively, 2-way analysis of variance).
Conclusion
In late gestation, CVF-decreased expression of the cysteine protease inhibitor, cystatin
A, is associated with labor. Although the role and contribution of cystatin A to increased
extracellular matrix remodeling has yet to be elucidated, the data that were obtained
are consistent with this hypothesis.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 17, 2010
Accepted:
October 11,
2010
Received in revised form:
September 19,
2010
Received:
July 9,
2010
Footnotes
Supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) Development Grant (454451) and the Medical Research Foundation for Women and Babies. YJ Heng is a recipient of an NHMRC Biomedical (Dora Lush) Postgraduate Research Scholarship (454880).
Reprints not available from the authors.
Cite this article as: Heng YJ, Di Quinzio MKW, Permezel M, et al. Cystatin A protease inhibitor and cysteine proteases in human cervicovaginal fluid in term pregnancy and labor. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2011;204:254.e1-7.
Identification
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© 2011 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
