Table 1.

Intraperitoneal HK-GBS injection leads to preterm delivery, and pretreatment with Z-VAD-FMK delays preterm delivery in mice. 10⁹ heat killed GBS bacteria were injected intraperitoneally in day 14.5 pregnant CD-1 mice. Data from animals treated with HK-GBS without Z-VAD-FMK (GBS alone, PBS + GBS or DMSO + GBS) were combined.

	Preterm delivery <18 hours (%)	Preterm delivery 18– <24 hours (%)	Preterm delivery 24–36 hours (%)
GBS (n = 14)	12 (86%)	0	2 (14%)
Z-VAD + GBS (n = 6)	1 (17%)	2 (33%)	3 (50%)
P-value	.0072	.079	.13