Abnormal timing in the womb may cause miscarriage

Correcting abnormal signals in the womb may help prevent repeated miscarriages.

After fertilisation, an embryo must embed itself within the inner layer of the uterus ? the endometrium. The endometrium is only receptive to an embryo for four days in each menstrual cycle, ensuring that implantation occurs at the right time.

By analysing human endometrial cells implanted in mice, Jan Brosens at the University of Warwick, UK, and his colleagues discovered that the four-day window is regulated by a molecule called interleukin-33. IL-33 controls signals to genes that make the endometrium sticky enough for implantation. These signals are switched off after four days when the endometrium starts to prepare for the next cycle.

In mice receiving cells from women who'd had more than one miscarriage, IL-33 signals lasted up to 10 days. Subsequent pregnancies failed in these mice because the embryo implanted when the endometrium could not support it.

"This is an important discovery," says Nicholas Macklon at the University of Southampton, UK. "We now have a potential [drug] target to improve the selective function of the endometrium."

Journal reference: PLoS One, doi.org/j49

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Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/2745d736/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cdn230A460Eabnormal0Etiming0Ein0Ethe0Ewomb0Emay0Ecause0Emiscarriage0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

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