Human Follicular Fluids Contain Tissue Macrophages*

Abstract

Tissue cells obtained from the follicular fluids of women undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer were found to contain interleukin-lβ mRNA by Northern analysis. Since macrophages are known to produce interleukin-1β, We examined the follicular fluids of 20 women undergoing in vitro fertilization as well as tissue sections of normal human ovary for the presence of macrophages and monocytes. Although granulosa-luteal cells predominate in follicular fluid, we found that resident macrophages and monocytes comprise 5–15% of human follicular tissue cells. In addition, we observed that macrophages are present in the human ovarian follicle as well as in the corpus luteum.