Figure 5.

(A, B) Tissue immunostaining of tenascin-X (TNX) in human fetal membranes of women without (No) or with (Yes) histologic chorioamnionitis (HCA). (C, D) The amnio-epithelium (ae, black arrow) and choriodecidua (cd) of women with No HCA display intense staining for TNX, in strong contrast to women with Yes HCA, who exhibited consistently minimal ae staining. At the interface between ae and cd (see insert), the area surrounding the infiltrating inflammatory cells (green fluorescent arrow heads) is clear of TNX. (E) Mean TNX and standard error mean analysis of the intensity of TNX in the ae of women with and without intra-amniotic fluid infection/inflammation (IAI). (F-H) Double immunostaining of fetal membranes for TNX (green fluorescence) and CD45 (red fluorescence) from a representative case with IAI demonstrating presence of tissue infiltrating leukocytes. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI. The CD45 + inflammatory cells did not express TNX but disturbed the continuity of tissue TNX immunoreactivity along the fetal membranes. Intracellular TNX staining was observed in ae cells (white arrow). (I) Negative control with omitted primary antibodies. * denotes statistical significance at P < 0.05.