Human chorionic gonadotrophin attenuates NF-κB activation and cytokine expression of endometriotic stromal cells

Huber AV, A V Huber, Anja Huber, Saleh L, Leila Saleh, L Saleh, J Prast, Johanna Prast, Prast J, Peter Haslinger, Haslinger P, P Haslinger, Knöfler M, Martin Knöfler
Molecular human reproduction · 2007 · vol. 13(8) , pp. 595–604 · doi:10.1093/molehr/gam032 · PMID:17525069 · W2114531384
article OA: hybrid CC0 ⤵ 16 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

Human chorionic gonadotrophin preparation hCG-A suppressed TNF-alpha- or IL-1beta-induced NF-kappaB activation and cytokine expression in endometriotic stromal cells by stabilizing IkappaBalpha.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Recently, a clinical study provided evidence that treatment of endometriotic women with human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) alleviates disease-related pain and sleeplessness suggesting therapeutic effects of the hormone. Since endometriosis is associated with aberrant concentrations of inflammatory mediators in the peritoneal fluid, we investigated whether hCG may affect cytokine-dependent activation of the key-regulatory transcription factor NF-kappaB and expression of two nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB)-inducible genes, tumour necrosing factor (TNF-alpha) and interleukin (IL)-1beta, in stromal cells isolated from ectopic endometriotic tissues. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay revealed that treatment of these cultures with the urinary preparation hCG-A suppressed TNF-alpha- or IL-1beta-induced NF-kappaB DNA-binding activity, whereas another urinary hCG preparation (hCG-B) was less effective. Recombinant alphahCG or epidermal growth factor (EGF), a contaminant of some urinary hCG preparations, did not alter cytokine-dependent NF-kappaB activation. Immunofluorescene of its p65 subunit revealed that pre-incubation with hCG-A strongly decreased TNF-alpha-dependent nuclear expression of NF-kappaB. Accordingly, hCG-A diminished IL-1beta-induced TNF-alpha transcript levels and protein release measured by quantitative real-time PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The hormone also attenuated TNF-alpha-dependent mRNA expression of IL-1beta. Western blot analyses revealed that hCG-A impaired TNF-alpha-mediated phosphorylation and degradation of the inhibitor IkappaBalpha suggesting that the hormone may reduce nuclear import of NF-kappaB by stabilizing its inhibitor. The data suggest that hCG attenuates inflammation-dependent NF-kappaB activation and cytokine expression that could provide one explanation for the beneficial role of the hormone in endometriotic patients.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Chorionic Gonadotropin Cytokines Endometriosis NF-kappa B Cells, Cultured Chorionic Gonadotropin Cytokines Cytokines Cytokines Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay Endometriosis Female Humans NF-kappa B NF-kappa B NF-kappa B Stromal Cells Stromal Cells Stromal Cells

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (64)

Cited by (15)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-08-21T06:14:13.963979+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:14:54.534439+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK