Premium
Ethanol and Mitotic Inhibitors Promote Differentiation of Trophoblastic Cells
Author(s) -
Karl Peter I.,
Harvey Barrington,
Fisher Stanley E.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1996.tb01122.x
Subject(s) - human chorionic gonadotropin , chorioepithelioma , dna synthesis , choriocarcinoma , cell growth , placenta , endocrinology , medicine , ethanol , trophoblast , gonadotropin , fetus , cell culture , andrology , biology , chemistry , in vitro , pregnancy , biochemistry , hormone , genetics
Chronic ethanol abuse during pregnancy can cause fetal injury. A contributing factor in this fetal injury may be the effect of ethanol on the placenta. Ethanol treatment increases human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) production by cultured human placental trophoblasts. In this study, we show that ethanol treatment reduces total DNA and total protein while stimulating hCG production in term trophoblasts. Ethanol treatment inhibits growth in rapidly proliferating trophoblastic cells from a first trimester placenta and JEG‐3 choriocarcinoma cells. In both cell types, the normal increases in total DNA were inhibited in an ethanol dose‐dependent manner. Normal increases in total protein were inhibited as well. In contrast, hCG production, an indicator of differentiation, was stimulated by ethanol treatment. Treatment of JEG‐3 cells with antimitogenic agents, methotrexate (MTX) or cytosine arabinoside (Ara‐C), inhibited cell growth as indicated by decreased total DNA and total protein accumulation. Similar to that with ethanol treatment, inhibition of cell proliferation was accompanied by increases in hCG production. Taken together, these data suggest that one mechanism by which ethanol increases hCG production in human placental trophoblasts may involve alterations in cellular growth and/or differentiation; such alterations may also occur in other proliferating cells in the growing fetus.