Project description:Maternal serum levels of calcyclin and heat shock protein 90 were compared throughout pregnancy from the first trimester till term among women with preeclampsia (PE) and age-matched normotensive pregnant controls (C). Serum samples from two different studies, a nested case-control study embedded in the Rotterdam periconception cohort and the Lepra Study both conducted at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam. They were collected in the first, second and third trimester of pregnancy in 43 patients with preeclampsia, consisting of 20 early-onset and 23 late-onset preeclampsia, and 46 normotensive pregnant controls. A serum based 2D LC-MS assay on Parallel Reaction Monitoring mode using a high resolution tribrid mass spectrometer was used to quantify both calcyclin and heat shock protein 90.
Project description:Preeclampsia is a severe placenta-related pregnancy disorder that is generally divided into two subtypes named early-onset preeclampsia (onset <34 weeks of gestation), and lateonset preeclampsia (onset ≥34 weeks of gestation), with distinct pathophysiological origins. Both forms of preeclampsia have been associated with maternal systemic inflammation. However, alterations in the placental immune system have been less well characterized. Here, we studied immunological alterations in early- and late-onset preeclampsia placentas using a targeted expression profile approach. RNA was extracted from snap-frozen placenta samples (healthy n=13, early-onset preeclampsia n=13, and late-onset preeclampsia n=6). The expression of 730 immune-related genes from the Pan Cancer Immune Profiling Panel was measured, and the data were analyzed Q10 in the advanced analysis module of nSolver software (NanoString Technology). The results showed that early-onset preeclampsia placentas displayed reduced expression of complement, and toll-like receptor (TLR) associated genes, specifically TLR1 and TLR4. Mast cells and M2 macrophages were also decreased in early-onset preeclampsia compared to healthy pl acentas. The findings were confirmed by an immunohistochemistry approach using 20 healthy, 19 early-onset preeclampsia, and 10 late-onset preeclampsia placentas. We conclude that the placental innate immune system is altered in early-onset preeclampsia compared to uncomplicated pregnancies. The absence of these alterations in late-onset preeclampsia placentas indicates dissimilar immunological profiles. The study revealed distinct pathophysiological processes in earlyonset and late-onset preeclampsia placentas and imply that a tailored treatment to each subtype is desirable.
Project description:Although analysis of maternal plasma cell-free content has been employed for screening of genetic abnormalities within a pregnancy, limited attention has been paid to its use for the detection of adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) based on placental function. Here we investigated cell-free DNA and RNA content of 102 maternal and 25 cord plasma samples. Employing a novel deconvolution methodology, we found that during the first trimester, placenta-specific DNA increased prior to the subsequent development of gestational diabetes with no change in patients with preeclampsia while decreasing with maternal obesity. Moreover, using cell-free RNA sequencing, APOs revealed seventy-one differentially expressed genes early in pregnancy. We noticed the upregulation of S100A8, MS4A3 and MMP8 that have been already associated with APOs but also the upregulation of BCL2L15 and the downregulation of ALPL that have never been associated with APOs. We constructed a classifier with a positive predictive ability (AUC) of 0.91 for APOs, 0.86 for preeclampsia alone and 0.64 for GDM. We conclude that placenta-specific cell-free nucleic acids during early gestation provide the possibility of predicting APOs prior to the emergence of characteristic clinical features.
Project description:Preeclampsia (PE) is a serious pregnancy associated disorder. Recently, it has been proposed that the role of the placenta differ between the two sub-groups early- and late-onset PE. To further elucidate differences between the two sub-groups, we conducted transcriptional profiling of human placenta comparing early- with late-onset PE. The analysis showed differences in angiogenesis associated genes. Two-condition experiment, early-onset PE (n=8) vs. late-onset PE (n=7).
Project description:Hypertension in pregnancy is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in pregnancy, affecting up to 10% of all gestations1. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy include chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension, eclampsia and pre-eclampsia, all of which increase the risk of complications in both mothers and babies during gestation. Preeclampsia, in particular, is characterised by the new-onset of gestational hypertension in the presence of proteinuria or other organ damage. It affects 5-7% of pregnancies and causes approximately 76,000 maternal deaths and 500,000 foetal deaths worldwide each year2. The classification of preeclampsia has been evolving over the last decade. In 2013, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy (ISSHP) in the absence of proteinuria included other symptoms/features including liver dysfunction, thrombocytopenia, cerebrovascular events or foetal growth restriction (FGR) in the diagnosis of preeclampsia 1,3,4. Despite the fact that preeclampsia is a multifactorial and heterogeneous disorder, it is now widely accepted that preeclampsia is stratified depending on the time of onset into: i) early-onset PE (EOPE) manifested before 34 weeks of gestation, and ii) late-onset PE (LOPE) manifested from 34 weeks of gestation. Although EOPE and LOPE share the same diagnostic criteria, these two phenotypes of preeclampsia lead to different outcomes. EOPE is commonly associated with FGR, abnormal uterine artery Doppler often leading to preterm birth and higher risk of post-pregnancy morbidities5,6. On the other hand, LOPE appears to be a less severe disorder, often with normal or slightly increased uterine resistance index and a low rate of FGR6,7. Distinct delineation between EOPE and LOPE is still not well understood, with most patients with preeclampsia presenting elements of both pathologies proposing a clinical spectrum for preeclampsia. The lack of untargeted discovery studies involving ‘omics’ analyses has impeded understanding of the molecular differences between these two phenotypes of preeclampsia. Notably, a study from 20058 utilised a proteomics approach using urine samples from a cohort of pregnant women with EOPE and healthy controls, however the differences between EOPE and LOPE were not elucidated. Another more recent bioinformatics study, identified overlapping pathogenic mechanisms between preeclampsia, hypertension and heart disease but could not stratify between EOPE and LOPE due to underreported of data related to individual phenotypes9. In this study, we conducted an unbiased, comprehensive proteomics investigation using plasma samples collected from patients with EOPE (n=17) and LOPE (n=11), compared with age- and BMI-matched normotensive controls (n=18). The use of plasma samples is able to better reflect the pathogenesis of EOPE and LOPE as systemic conditions centred by widespread endothelial dysfunction.
Project description:Although analysis of maternal plasma cell-free content has been employed for screening of genetic abnormalities within a pregnancy, limited attention has been paid to its use for the detection of adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) based on placental function. We investigated the cell-free RNA content of 102 maternal, 25 cord plasma samples and 7 non pregnant women as control. using cell-free RNA sequencing, APOs revealed seventy-one differentially expressed genes early in pregnancy. We noticed the upregulation of S100A8, MS4A3 and MMP8 that have been already associated with APOs but also the upregulation of BCL2L15 and the downregulation of ALPL that have never been associated with APOs. We constructed a classifier with a positive predictive ability (AUC) of 0.91 for APOs, 0.86 for preeclampsia alone and 0.64 for GDM. We conclude that placenta-specific cell-free nucleic acids during early gestation provide the possibility of predicting APOs prior to the emergence of characteristic clinical features.
Project description:Preeclampsia (PE) is a serious pregnancy associated disorder. Recently, it has been proposed that the role of the placenta differ between the two sub-groups early- and late-onset PE. To further elucidate differences between the two sub-groups, we conducted transcriptional profiling of human placenta comparing early- with late-onset PE. The analysis showed differences in angiogenesis associated genes.
Project description:Background: Early-onset preeclampsia (EOPE) and late-onset preeclampsia (LOPE) has been regarded as two different phenotypes with heterogeneous manifestation. The underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Aim to gain insight into the pathogenesis of the two traits, we analyzed the placental gene expression profiles in preeclampsia placentas. Methods: Whole genome-wide microarray was used to describe the gene expression profiles in the placenta tissues from patients with early-(n=7; <34 weeks), late-onset(n=8; >36 weeks) PE and their controls who delivered preterm (n=5;<34 weeks) or at term(n=5; >36 weeks) Genes were selected as differentially expressed upon a fold-changeâ?¥2 and q-value<0.05. qRT-PCR was undertaken to verify the results. Western blot was further performed to verify secreted genes at the protein level. Results: A total of 627 genes were differentially expressed in early-compared with late-onset PE. Of these, 177 genes were up-regulated and 450 genes down-regulated in early-onset PE. Go analysis showed significant alteration in several biological processes, in addition to the processes which have been found before, such as immune and inflammatory response, cell adhension, female pregnancy and blood vessel development. We also found alteration in G-protein coupled receptor protein signaling pathway, G protein-coupled receptor 124 (GPR124) (P=0.0064) and MAS-related GPR, member F (MRGPRF)(P=0.0155 ) were both down-regulated obviously in early-onset PE. Conclusion: The different gene expression profiles suggested early- and late-onset PE are separate disease entities. Moreover, G-protein coupled receptor protein signaling pathway may contribute to the mechanism underlying early- and late-onset preeclampsia. Whole genome-wide microarray was used to describe the gene expression profiles in the placenta tissues from patients with early-(n=7; <34 weeks), late-onset (n=8; >36 weeks) PE and their controls who delivered preterm(n=5;<34 weeks) or at term(n=5; >36 weeks). Pooled controls who delivered at term were labled with cy5.
Project description:Early-onset preeclampsia (EOPE) is a severe pregnancy complication associated with significant maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Currently, there is a critical need for accurate, non-invasive biomarkers to facilitate early diagnosis and effective management of EOPE. In this study, we aimed to investigate the transcriptional alterations and non-invasive biomarker potential of peripheral blood microRNAs in patients with EOPE. Through our research, we successfully identified two reliable plasma miRNA biomarkers and proposed a circulating two-miRNA panel for the non-invasive early detection of EOPE. Additionally, we independently validated our findings in different patient cohorts using various technological platforms.