Contractile activity of human decidual stromal cells. II. Effect of interleukin-10.

Context: Human decidual stromal cells (DSC) are myofibroblast-like cells that express -smooth muscle (-SM) actin, a protein associated with cell contractility. Several lines of experimental evidence in humans and mice show that antiinflammatory cytokines favor normal pregnancy, whereas Th1 and inflammatory cytokines play a role in abortion. We previously demonstrated that IL-2, a Th1 cytokine, increased the contractility of human DSC. Objective: We studied the effect of the antiinflammatory cytokines IL-10 and IL-4 on the contractility of DSC from first-trimester pregnancy. Setting and Patients: We studied 10 healthy women who underwent elective vaginal termination of first-trimester pregnancy at