Background: High temperature requirement factor A 1 (HtrA1) and A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase 12 \r\n(ADAM12), which play roles in placental implantation and placental growth, have been implicated in the pathogenesis \r\nof preeclampsia.\r\nMethods: We investigated relative mRNA expression of both genes in placental tissues from women with \r\npreeclampsia (N = 18) (average gestational age 36 weeks) and an equal number of women with normotensive \r\npregnancies (average gestational age 39 weeks). Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to measure mRNA \r\nextracted from term placental biopsies. Differential gene expression was evaluated using Student�s T-test and fold \r\nchange analyses. \r\nResults: Statistically significant increases in placental HtrA1 (1.69-fold, p = 0.030) and ADAM12 (1.48-fold, p = \r\n0.010) mRNA expression were observed among preeclamptic cases as compared with normotensive controls. HtrA1 \r\nexpression was correlated with maternal age (p-value< 0.01) among preeclampsia cases. \r\nConclusion: Increases in HtRA1 and ADAM12 placental gene expression in placentas from preeclamptic \r\npregnancies are consistent with some earlier reports of altered serum protein concentrations in preeclamptic \r\npregnancies. This adds to the literature suggesting that defects in placentation (e.g. involving trophoblast invasion) are \r\nof etiologic importance in preeclampsia.
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