An Emerging Role of Endometrial Inflammosome in Reproduction: New Therapeutic Approaches

One of the common complications of pregnancy is spontaneous pregnancy\r\nloss which occurs in an estimated 5- 15% of pregnancies. Of all women 1%–5% suffer from recurrent\r\npregnancy loss (RPL). Despite the fact that RPL has been associated to various anatomic, hormonal,\r\nimmune, hematologic, and genetic defects, in 30% of the patients, screening tests included\r\nin the RPL workup may have negative results. Recently, we demonstrated a significant increased\r\nactivation of endometrial NALP-3 inflammasome, and a caspase-1 dependent secretion of IL-18\r\nand IL-1β in the endometrial tissues obtained from RPL women compared with a fertile women\r\ngroup. The inflammasome has emerged as a key player in innate immunity and inflammation. An\r\nabnormal inflammasome activation, in absence of detectable infectious causes, might be one of the\r\nmolecular mechanisms involved in establishing an unreceptive endometrium, potentially leading to\r\nearly fetal loss. Upon activation, this multiprotein complex makes possible the caspase-1-mediated\r\nproteolytic processing of proinflammatory cytokines generating their respective mature secretory\r\nforms.\r\nConclusion: The understanding of molecular modulation of inflammasome associated pathways is