The production of interleukin-1 alpha immunoreactivity by human oviductal cells in a coculture system.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of interleukin-1 alpha in human embryo culture medium with or without oviductal cell coculture and to correlate the interleukin-1 alpha levels with pregnancy.

METHODS

Culture media from 32 in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer cycles were assayed for interleukin-1 alpha by immunoassay technique. Human embryos were cultured in Earles' balanced salt solution supplemented with 15% preovulatory serum (sEBSS) in 16 of these cycles, while embryos in the rest of the cycles were cocultured with human oviductal cells in sEBSS.

RESULTS

Both sEBSS and spent sEBSS after embryo culture contained low or undetectable levels of interleukin-1 alpha in the pregnant and nonpregnant cycles. On the other hand, oviductal cells significantly increased the amount of interleukin-1 alpha immunoreactivity in the conventional culture medium or coculture medium (P < 0.001, Mann-Whitney rank sum test). The concentrations of interleukin-1 alpha in the spent sEBSS after oviductal cell culture and after coculture with human embryos were 1.5 +/- 1.0 and 1.3 +/- 0.9 pg/ml, respectively. There was no difference in the interleukin-1 alpha concentration between the pregnant and the nonpregnant coculture cycles.

CONCLUSIONS

These data showed that human oviductal cells produced interleukin-1 alpha immunoreactivity in a coculture system. However, this production could not be used as a marker for successful embryo implantation.