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Expression of osteopontin in human decidua: its role in decidual recruitment of natural killer cells

Accumulation of decidual natural killer cells (dNK) during early gestation is evident in successful pregnancy, and some chemokines have been recognized to be involved in this event. Osteopontin, as a chemokine, is proposed to involve in keeping successful pregnancy in mice and ruminants. To date, there is little information on osteopontin expression in human pregnant process and RPL patients. In this study, we detected osteopontin expression in decidua of early pregnant women and RPL patients by RT‐PCR analysis and immunohistochemical staining. Osteopontin was expressed both in human decidual stromal cells and dNK cells, and upregulated in the decidual tissue from later gestational phase than that from early gestational phase. The strong osteopontin expression in perivascular decidual stromal cells corresponded with a large amount of dNK cells, whereas osteopontin expression and accumulation of dNK cells were reduced significantly in RPL patients. Moreover, we found that progesterone significantly induced osteopontin secretion from cultured decidual stromal cells. These results indicate that osteopontin may play an important role in dNK recruit through autocrine and/or prairie pathways during human early pregnancy. Our findings provide further understanding of the role of osteopontin in dNK recruitments and the complex mechanism of progesterone on decidual stromal cells in the control of human pregnant maintenance.