Main Findings
We used a standardized clinical-based reconstruction of the first stage
of spontaneous labor to explore CVF cytokine expression
as a proxy of inflammatory
processes occurring in the intrauterine/choriodecidual compartment.
Here, we show that the progression of clinical manifestations is
correlated with the activation of the inflammatory response during
labor, since there is a positive correlation between CVF
pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, specifically IL-1β and IL-6, and
initial clinical manifestations of labor. These results support the
hypothesis that the cervicovaginal
milieu can reflect and predict the inflammatory intrauterine processes
associated to human labor and can be used to explore potential
biomarkers for term and preterm labor;15–17,10 in
addition to being a minimally invasive technique.