Immune Cells in the Placental Villi Contribute to Intra-amniotic Inflammation

Intra-amniotic (IA) inflammation is associated with significant morbidities for both the mother and the fetus. Prior studies have illustrated many of the effects of IA inflammation on the uterine lining (decidua) and membranous layers of the placenta at the fetal–maternal interface. However, much less is known about the immunological response occurring within the villous placenta. Using a rhesus macaque model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced IA inflammation, we showed that pregnancy-matched choriodecidua and villi have distinct immunological profiles in rhesus pregnancies. In the choriodecidua, we show that the abundance of neutrophils, multiple populations of antigen-presenting cells, and two populations of natural killer (NK) cells changes with prenatal IA LPS exposure. In contrast, in immune cells within the villous placenta we observed alterations in the abundance of B cells, monocytes, and CD8 T cells. Prior work has illustrated that IA inflammation leads to an increase in tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) at the fetal–maternal interface. In this study, pretreatment with a TNFα blockade partially reversed inflammation in the placental villi. Furthermore, we report that immune cells in the villous placenta sensed LPS during our experimental window, and subsequently activated T cells to produce proinflammatory cytokines. Moreover, this study is the first report of memory T cells in third-trimester non-human primate placental villi and provides evidence that manipulation of immune cells in the villi at the fetal–maternal interface should be considered as a potential therapeutic target for IA inflammation.