Objective: To investigate the effect of mifepristone on the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-alpha) and transforming growth factor-beta(TGF-beta) in decidua of early pregnancy.
Methods: Thirty artificial abortion women as control and thirty drug abortion women were enrolled for study. The expressions of TNF-alpha and TGF-beta in decidua were measured with immunohistochemical method.
Results: There was no significant difference of TNF-alpha positive expression rates between drug abortion group (73.33%) and artificial abortion group (70.00%, P > 0.05). TGF-beta expression rate of drug abortion group was similar to that of artificial abortion group. The highly-positive (++ and +++) TNF-alpha expression rate in drug abortion group was significantly higher than that in artificial abortion group (P < 0.05). TGF-beta expression degree in decidua of drug abortion group was significantly lower than that of artificial abortion group (P < 0.05). The ratio of TNF-alpha/TGF-beta in drug abortion group is higher than that in artificial abortion group.
Conclusion: TGF-beta has great effect on regulating the embryo development of early pregnancy. The change of TNF-alpha may be the reason of abortion. Mifepristone may interfere with embryo growth by inhibiting the activity of TGF-beta or by stimulating the secretion of TNF-alpha.