The placenta in preeclampsia

Histopathological lesions and exposure to Plasmodium falciparum infections in the placenta increases the risk of preeclampsia among pregnant women

Preeclampsia (PE) is a placental disorder with different phenotypic presentations. In malaria-endemic regions, high incidence of PE is reported, with debilitating foeto-maternal effects, particularly among primigravid women. However, the relationship between placental pathology and Plasmodium falciparum infection in the placenta with PE is underexplored. Placentas from 134 pregnant women were examined after delivery for pathological lesions and placental malaria (PM). They comprised of 69 women without PE (non-PE group) and 65 women diagnosed with PE (PE group). The presence of placental pathology increased the risk of PE, with particular reference to syncytial knots. Placental malaria was 64 (48.1%) and 21 (15.8%) respectively for active and past infections and these proportions were significantly higher in the PE group compared to the non-PE group. Further multivariate analyses showed placental pathology (adjusted (aOR) 3.0, 95% CI = 1.2-7.5), active PM (aOR 6.7, 95% CI = 2.3-19.1), past PM (aOR 12.4, 95% CI = 3.0-51.0) and primigravidity (aOR 6.6, 95% CI 2.4-18.2) to be associated with PE. Our findings suggest that placental histological changes and PM are independent risk factors for PE particularly in primigravida. These findings might improve the management of PE in malaria-endemic regions.

Genetic and epigenetic analysis of the BAX and BCL2 in the placenta of pregnant women complicated by preeclampsia

The current study examined the effects of BAX and BCL2 polymorphisms and methylation as well as mRNA expression on susceptibility to PE. After delivery, the placentas were collected from 92 women with PE, as well as 106 normotensive pregnant women. The BAX rs4645878 and BCL2 rs2279115 polymorphisms were genotyped by the PCR-RFLP method. Methylation-specific PCR (MSP) was used for analysis of promoter methylation. mRNA expression was assayed by Quantitative RT-PCR. In addition, in silico analysis was performed by bioinformatics tools. There was no relationship between PE and placental BAX rs4645878 and BCL2 rs2279115 polymorphisms. The groups were not significantly different regarding the promoter methylation of BAX gene. Nonetheless, the MM status of BCL2 promoter had a significantly higher frequency in the PE group and was associated with 2.7-fold higher risk of PE (OR = 2.7, 95% CI = 1.3-5.6; P = 0.01). The relative mRNA expression of BCL2 was decreased in the placentas of PE women (P < 0.0001). The expression of BAX gene was not significantly different between the two groups. There was no association between placental BAX rs4645878 and BCL2 rs2279115 polymorphisms and mRNA expression levels. In silico analysis indicated that BAX rs4645878 and BCL2 rs2279115 polymorphisms were located in the core recognition site of different transcription factors and these substitutions of wild allele resulted in the loss and/ or change of these binding sites and subsequently may alter BCL2 and BAX expression. This study showed that the BAX and BCL2 polymorphisms and BAX promoter methylation were not associated with PE risk. The BCL2 promoter methylation was associated with lower BCL2 expression and higher PE susceptibility.

Differences in expression of Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor-γ in early-onset preeclampsia and late-onset preeclampsia

OBJECTIVE

PPARγ is a ligand-binding transcription factor that has been reported to be implicated in lipid metabolism, immune function, and cellular growth and differentiation. It has been suspected to play a role in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia, although the mechanism is yet to be elaborated. This study aims to investigate the expression of PPARγ in early onset preeclampsia (EOPE), late onset preeclampsia (LOPE), and normal pregnancy. We conducted this study using primary trophoblastic cell culture incubated with serum from EOPE, LOPE, and normal pregnancy. The expression of PPARγ in these cells was analyzed using Western Blot. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni's post hoc test. p < 0.05 is considered significant.

RESULTS

Serum from normal pregnant women and EOPE did not induce any difference in the expression of PPAR-γ (p > 0.05). In contrast, expression of PPAR-γ was increased in those cells induced by serum from LOPE (p < 0.001). Therefore, we conclude that hypothetically PPAR-γ might play role in the pathophysiology of LOPE but not in EOPE. Other possibility is the activity of PPAR-γ in EOPE is inversely correlated with its expression, therefore the high enzymatic activity of PPAR-γ is tightly regulated by attenuating its expression.

An Insight into the Angiogenic and Lymphatic Interplay in Pre-eclampsia Comorbid with HIV Infection

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To provide insight on the imbalance of angiogenic and lymphangiogenic factors in pre-eclampsia, as well as highlight polymorphism in genes related to angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis.

RECENT FINDINGS

The pregnancy-specific disorder pre-eclampsia is diagnosed by the presence of hypertension with/without proteinuria, after 20 weeks of gestation. The pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia remains ambiguous, but research over the years has identified an imbalance in maternal and foetal factors. Familial predisposition and gene variation are also linked to pre-eclampsia development. The sFlt-1/PIGF ratio has attracted great attention over the years; more recently several researchers have reported that a sFlt-1/PIGF ratio of ≤ 38 can be used to predict short-term absence of pre-eclampsia. This ratio has the potential to prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes and reduce healthcare costs significantly. Genome-wide studies have additionally identified variation in the foetal gene near Flt-1. The development of preeclampsia is not limited to the maternal interface, but foetal involvement as well as genetic interplay is associated with the disorder.

Development of placental abnormalities in location and anatomy

Low‐lying placentas, placenta previa and abnormally invasive placentas are the most frequently occurring placental abnormalities in location and anatomy. These conditions can have serious consequences for mother and fetus mainly due to excessive blood loss before, during or after delivery. The incidence of such abnormalities is increasing, but treatment options and preventive strategies are limited. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the etiology of placental abnormalities in location and anatomy. Placental formation already starts at implantation and therefore disorders during implantation may cause these abnormalities. Understanding of the normal placental structure and development is essential to comprehend the etiology of placental abnormalities in location and anatomy, to diagnose the affected women and to guide future research for treatment and preventive strategies. We reviewed the literature on the structure and development of the normal placenta and the placental development resulting in low‐lying placentas, placenta previa and abnormally invasive placentas.

Feasibility of image registration and fusion for evaluation of structure and perfusion of the entire second trimester placenta by three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound

BACKGROUND

Placental perfusion can be evaluated by 3D power Doppler ultrasound (3D PD-US), particularly using the validated tool 3D Fractional Moving Blood Volume (3D-FMBV); however regional variability and size limitations beyond the first trimester mean that multiple 3D PD-US volumes are required to evaluate the whole organ.

PURPOSE

We assessed the feasibility of manual offline stitching of second trimester 3D PD-US volumes of the placenta to assess whole organ perfusion using 3D-FMBV.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This was a single-centre, prospective, observational cohort study of 36 normal second trimester singleton pregnancies with anterior placentas. 3D PD-US placental volumes were manually segmented offline and stitched together by rigid registration using manually selected, pair-wise coordinates. Data acquisition and offline volume segmentation and stitching were triplicated by a single observer with Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) and Hausdorff distance used to assess consistency. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess intra-observer repeatability of 3D-FMBV and placental volume.

RESULTS

Acquisition and stitching success were 94% and 88%, respectively. Median time for acquisition, segmentation and stitching were 13 min, 40 min and 95 min, respectively. Median intra-observer DSCs were 0.94 and 0.88, and Hausdorff distances were 11.85 mm and 36.6 mm, for segmentations and stitching, respectively.

CONCLUSION

3D-ultrasound volume stitching of the placenta is technically feasible. Intra-observer repeatability was good to excellent for all measured parameters. This work demonstrates technical feasibility; further studies may provide the basis of an in-vivo assessment tool to measure the placenta in mid-to late pregnancy.

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Prenatal Preeclampsia Exposure

Preeclampsia is a dangerous hypertensive disorder of pregnancy with known links to negative child health outcomes. Here, we review epidemiological and basic neuroscience work from the past several decades linking prenatal preeclampsia to altered neurodevelopment. This work demonstrates increased rates of neuropsychiatric disorders [e.g., increased autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)] in children of preeclamptic pregnancies, as well as increased rates of cognitive impairments [e.g., decreased intelligence quotient (IQ), academic performance] and neurological disease (e.g., stroke and epilepsy). We also review findings from multiple animal models of preeclampsia. Manipulation of key clinical preeclampsia processes in these models (e.g., placental hypoxia, immune dysfunction, angiogenesis, oxidative stress) causes various disruptions in offspring, including ones in white matter/glia, glucocorticoid receptors, neuroimmune outcomes, cerebrovascular structure, and cognition/behavior. This animal work implicates potentially high-yield targets that may be leveraged in the future for clinical application.

The Role of NFκB in Healthy and Preeclamptic Placenta: Trophoblasts in the Spotlight

The NFκB protein family regulates numerous pathways within the cell-including inflammation, hypoxia, angiogenesis and oxidative stress-all of which are implicated in placental development. The placenta is a critical organ that develops during pregnancy that primarily functions to supply and transport the nutrients required for fetal growth and development. Abnormal placental development can be observed in numerous disorders during pregnancy, including fetal growth restriction, miscarriage, and preeclampsia (PE). NFκB is highly expressed in the placentas of women with PE, however its contributions to the syndrome are not fully understood. In this review we discuss the molecular actions and related pathways of NFκB in the placenta and highlight areas of research that need attention.

Utero-placental vascular remodeling during late gestation in Sprague-Dawley rats

BACKGROUND

Remodeling of the uterine spiral arteries and blood vessels within the placenta allows delivery of nutrients to the growing utero-fetal-placental unit. While abnormal remodeling of these vessels is thought to play an important role in syndromes including intrauterine growth restriction and preeclampsia, there are a lack of studies that have quantified vascular remodeling in normal pregnant rats. Thus, the purpose of this study was to quantify time-dependent remodeling of the utero-placental vasculature during late gestation in normal pregnant rats.

METHODS

Timed-pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Gestational days of 14 and 19 were chosen because this when a large amount of fetal and placental growth occurs. A combined method of perfusion-casting and 3D micro-computed tomography were utilized to construct ex-vivo utero-placental vasculature images.

RESULTS

Significant spiral artery remodeling occurred between days 14 and 19. Vessel density shifted away from a distribution of smaller to larger diameters by day 19. Total spiral artery area and average diameter were increased by day 19. Moreover, branching and tortuosity of the spiral arteries were greater by day 19. In rodents, spiral arteries feed into the central canal vessels that funnel to sites of exchange. Canal vessel area and diameter were increased by day 19.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study supports a quantitative method to examine the placental vasculature showing that significant vascular remodeling occurs during late gestation in the utero-placental-fetal unit of the normal pregnant rat. This method may serve as a tool to investigate fundamental pathophysiological mechanisms underlying placental-related diseases in rat models.

Inflammation-mediated generation and inflammatory potential of human placental cell-free fetal DNA

Introduction

Circulating DNA can be pro-inflammatory when detected by leukocytes via toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). Cell-free fetal DNA (cff-DNA) of placental origin, circulates in pregnancy, and increased concentrations are seen in conditions associated with placental and maternal inflammation such as pre-eclampsia. However, whether cff-DNA is directly pro-inflammatory in pregnant women and what regulates cff-DNA levels in pregnancy are unknown.

Methods

Using a human term placental explant model, we examined whether induction of placental inflammation can promote cff-DNA release, and the capacity of this cff-DNA to stimulate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from pregnant women.

Results

We demonstrate lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-mediated inflammation in placental explants and induced apoptosis after 24 h. However, this did not increase levels of cff-DNA generation compared to controls. Furthermore, the methylation status of the cff-DNA, was not altered by LPS-induced inflammation. Cff-DNA did not elicit production of inflammatory cytokines from PBMCs, in contrast to exposure to LPS or the TLR9 agonist CpG-ODN. Finally, we demonstrate that cff-DNA acquired directly from pregnant women did not differ in methylation status from placental extracted DNA, or from placental explant generated cell-free DNA, and that, unlike Escherichia coli DNA, this cff-DNA has a low level of unmethylated CpG sequences.

Discussion

Our data suggest that placental inflammation does not increase release of cff-DNA and that placental cff-DNA is not pro-inflammatory to circulating PBMCs. It thus seems unlikely that high levels of cff-DNA are either a direct consequence or cause of inflammation observed in obstetric complications.

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Cell-free fetal DNA was generated using a human placental explant model.

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Lipopolysaccharide causes inflammation and cell death in placental explants.

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Inflammation does not increase cell-free fetal DNA release from placental explants.

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Generated DNA does not elicit inflammation from blood cells from pregnant women.

HMOX1 is partly responsible for phenotypic and functional abnormalities in mesenchymal stem cells/stromal cells from placenta of preeclampsia (PE) patients

Background

Preeclampsia is a common obstetric syndrome affecting women in their first pregnancy and characterized by hypertension and proteinuria, which appears after 20 weeks of gestation. It is characterized by high blood pressure and occasional damage to another organ system most often the liver and kidneys. Currently, the etiology and pathogenesis of this syndrome are not fully understood. Since mesenchymal stem cells/stromal cells (MSCs) are intimately associated with endothelial cells that line vessel walls in the decidua they may play some role in the pathogenesis of this syndrome. In this study, we have partly, unveiled the mechanism of preeclampsia pathogenesis at the stem cells level.

Methods

We have isolated and characterized MSCs from decidua basalis of preeclampsia placenta (PE-DBMSCs) and showed their decreased functionality in terms of proliferation, migration, adhesion and clone formation potential as compared to MSCs isolated from decidua region of normal placentae (DBMSCs). The cells were preconditioned with H₂O₂ and the functional characteristics were evaluated. Differentially expressed genes were analyzed using mass spectrometry. Immunoblotting confirmed the expression of these proteins.

Results

Pre-conditioning with H₂O₂ restored the functional outcome of PE-DBMSCs. Mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of differentially expressed proteins revealed HMOX1 as one of the major candidates missing in PE-DBMSCs. HMOX1 inhibition by tin protoporphyrin (SnPP) in normal DBMSCs resulted in a reduction in proliferation, migration, adhesion, and clone formation processes as compared to the untreated controls. mRNA and protein analyses of PE-DBMSCs preconditioned with H₂O₂ at lower doses showed upregulation of HMOX1 expression.

Conclusions

We hereby show for the first time that loss of function of stem cells/stromal cells isolated from the patients with preeclampsia may contribute towards the disease exacerbation. Our results suggest that HMOX1 may be partially responsible for the loss of functionality in PE-DBMSCs and contribute significantly towards the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. However, further investigation is required to decipher its exact role in the development and onset of the disorder.

The maternal and perinatal implications of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in a multiple pregnancy cohort

INTRODUCTION

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are common and may result in increased maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Multiple pregnancies confer an increased risk of development of a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to examine a large cohort of women delivering a multiple pregnancy in a single large tertiary unit, and to evaluate the implications of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy on both maternal and perinatal outcomes.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Retrospective study of all twin pregnancies delivered at Cork University Maternity Hospital, Ireland over a 9-year period (2009-2017). The twin pregnancies were divided according to the presence or absence of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy and the two groups were compared.

RESULTS

Maternal age >40 years, nulliparity, conception through use of a donor oocyte, and presence of obstetric cholestasis are all risk factors for the development of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in women with a multiple pregnancy. When a hypertensive disorder complicates a twin pregnancy, it increases the incidence of iatrogenic late prematurity and neonatal hypoglycemia.

CONCLUSIONS

This study is informative for clinicians caring for women with a multiple pregnancy with its relevant data on perinatal outcomes following a diagnosis of hypertensive disorder in pregnancy.

Urban PM2.5 Induces Cellular Toxicity, Hormone Dysregulation, Oxidative Damage, Inflammation, and Mitochondrial Interference in the HRT8 Trophoblast Cell Line

Objective: Epidemiological studies have found air pollution to be a driver of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including gestational diabetes, low term birth weight and preeclampsia. It is unknown what biological mechanisms are involved in this process. A first trimester trophoblast cell line (HTR-8/SVneo) was exposed to various concentrations of PM2.5 (PM2.5) in order to elucidate the effect of urban particulate matter (PM) of size <2.5 μm on placental function. Methods: PM2.5 were collected at a site representative of urban traffic and dispersed in cell media by indirect and direct sonication. The HTR-8 cells were grown under standard conditions. Cellular uptake was studied after 24 and 48 h of exposure by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The secretion of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), progesterone, and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) was measured by ELISA. Changes in membrane integrity and H₂O₂ production were analyzed using the CellTox^TM Green Cytotoxicity and ROSGlo^TM assays. Protease activity was evaluated by MitoTox^TM assay. Mitochondrial function was assessed through high resolution respirometry in an Oroboros O2k-FluoRespirometer, and mitochondrial content was quantified by citrate synthase activity. Results: TEM analysis depicted PM2.5 cellular uptake and localization of the PM2.5 to the mitochondria after 24 h. The cells showed aggregated cytoskeleton and generalized necrotic appearance, such as chromatin condensation, organelle swelling and signs of lost membrane integrity. The mitochondria displayed vacuolization and disruption of cristae morphology. At 48 h exposure, a significant drop in hCG secretion and a significant increase in progesterone secretion and IL-6 production occurred. At 48 h exposure, a five-fold increase in protease activity and a significant alteration of H₂O₂ production was observed. The HTR-8 cells exhibited evidence of increased cytotoxicity with increasing exposure time and dose of PM2.5. No significant difference in mitochondrial respiration or mitochondrial mass could be demonstrated. Conclusion: Following exposure to air pollution, intracellular accumulation of PM may contribute to the placental dysfunction associated with pregnancy outcomes, such as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction, through their direct and indirect effects on trophoblast protein secretion, hormone regulation, inflammatory response, and mitochondrial interference.

Correlation of biological parameters with placental parameters and pregnancy outcomes in pre-eclamptic women

INTRODUCTION

Pre-eclampsia is characterized by maternal vascular malperfusion and chronic inflammation in placenta. Our purpose was to investigate the potential correlation of biological parameters with placental parameters and pregnancy outcomes in pre-eclamptic women.

METHODS

Pre-eclamptic women were identified by interrogation of the Medical Registry Department in six French maternities between April 2013 and June 2018. Histological parameters in placentas (weight, macroscopic and microscopic lesions), baseline maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes (course of pregnancy, newborns' characteristics) were collected. Biological parameters were blood cell ratios (Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR), Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR)) collected at delivery and Placental growth factor (PlGF) measured in women with an available first trimester serum sample. Correlations of blood cell ratios and PlGF levels with placental parameters and pregnancy outcomes were assessed by Pearson's correlation test for quantitative parameters and by logistic regression analysis for qualitative parameters.

RESULTS

202 pregnancies were included, among which 68 had a first trimester PlGF quantification. No correlation was found between biological parameters and placental lesions. Low PLR was correlated with low placental weight (r = 0.156, p = 0.036) and with low birth weight (r = 0.179, p = 0.015). Low PlGF was correlated with long time from pre-eclampsia diagnosis to delivery (r = -0.250, p = 0.048).

CONCLUSIONS

There is no correlation between biological parameters and placental lesions in pre-eclamptic women. Yet, low PLR at delivery is correlated with low placental and birth weights. Moreover, low first trimester PlGF is correlated with long time from pre-eclampsia diagnosis to delivery.

Suppressyn localization and dynamic expression patterns in primary human tissues support a physiologic role in human placentation

We previously identified suppressyn (SUPYN), a placental protein that negatively regulates the cell fusion essential for trophoblast syncytialization via binding to the trophoblast receptor for syncytin-1, ASCT2, and hypothesized that SUPYN may thereby regulate cell-cell fusion in the placenta. Here, we redefine in vivo SUPYN localization using specific monoclonal antibodies in a rare early placental sample, showing SUPYN localization in villous and extravillous trophoblast subtypes, the decidua and even in placental debris in the maternal vasculature. In human trophoblast cell lines, we show SUPYN alters ASCT2 glycosylation within the secretory pathway and that this binding is associated with inhibition of cell fusion. Using newly-optimized trophoblast isolation protocols that allow tracking of ex vivo cell fusion, we present transcription and translation dynamics of fusion-related proteins over 96 hours in culture and the effects of changes in ambient oxygen levels on these processes. We report converse syncytin-1 and SUPYN transcriptional and translational responses to surrounding oxygen concentrations that suggest both are important in the effects of hypoxia and hyperoxia on placental syncytialization. Our results suggest that SUPYN’s anti-fusogenic properties may be exerted at several sites in the maternal body and its dysregulation may be associated with diseases of abnormal placentation.

Placental fibronectin staining is unaffected in pregnancies complicated by late-onset intrauterine growth restriction and small for gestational age fetuses

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the placental staining pattern of fibronectin, an extracellular matrix protein essential for trophoblastic invasion, in pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction.

METHODS

This was a retrospective study conducted at the University of Udine, including the placentas of women with pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction collected between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2010. Fibronectin was evaluated in placental tissue micro-array by immunohistochemistry, describing localization and intensity of staining.

RESULTS

The study included the placentas of 36 women with early-onset (delivery <34 weeks of gestation) pre-eclampsia; 6 with early-onset HELLP syndrome; 17 with early-onset intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR); 14 with late-onset (delivery ≥34 weeks of gestation) pre-eclampsia; 35 with late-onset IUGR; 18 with small for gestational age (SGA) fetuses (birth weight <10th percentile); and 64 controls. Fibronectin was present both at the cell surface and in the cytoplasm. Cytoplasm staining intensity resulted higher in early forms of pregnancy-related complications compared to controls, although this was statistically significant (P<0.05) only for early-onset pre-eclampsia (P=0.085 for HELLP syndrome; P=0.091 for IUGR). Also, late-onset forms of pre-eclampsia had stronger cytoplasmic and pericellular staining compared to controls (P<0.05). Interestingly, staining of both late-onset IUGR and SGA was comparable to controls.

CONCLUSION

Fibronectin appeared to be unaffected in women with late-onset IUGR and SGA fetuses, suggesting a peculiar common pathogenetic pattern in these conditions.

A successful term pregnancy with severe hypertriglyceridaemia and acute pancreatitis. Clinical management and review of the literature

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Acute hyperlipidaemic pancreatitis (HP) may develop in pregnancy in patients with genetic predisposition. There are no accepted guidelines for the management of this rare but life-threatening condition in pregnancy. Plasma exchange (PEX) was suggested as a suitable option to treat HP in pregnancy; however, further evidence from case reports/case series are needed.

METHODS

Three PEX procedures (2000 ml of plasma replaced with 5% albumin) were performed in one week in a pregnant patient at 25 weeks of gestational age with severe HP. Triglyceride related genes (LPL, APOA5, APOE, GPIHBP1, GPD1, LMF1, CREB3L3) were screened by DNA sequencing. Medline and Embase databases were searched electronically in January 2018 using different combinations of the relevant medical subject headings for "pancreatitis in pregnancy" and "therapeutic apheresis".

RESULTS

Gene profiling assessed a combined heterozygous state for the variants pSer19Trp of the APOA5 gene and pCys130Arg of the APOE (allele E4) gene. PEX led to significant and progressive reduction of triglyceride plasma levels along with cholesterol and C-reactive protein. Meanwhile a fast improvement of pregnant clinical condition was observed. This allowed the delivery at term of a healthy newborn without gestational complications. An outcome hardly achievable in patients managed exclusively by a pharmacological approach.

CONCLUSIONS

PEX led to a positive maternal outcome in absence of foetal and gestational complications in a case of severe HP in pregnancy. As clinical trials are lacking, case reports still represent the best way to reasonably implement clinical management of this rare but life-threatening disease.

Effect of Metformin on a Preeclampsia-Like Mouse Model Induced by High-Fat Diet

BACKGROUND

Metformin has been reported to decrease insulin resistance and is associated with a lower risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia. It is widely accepted that the placenta plays a crucial role in the development of preeclampsia. Our aim is to explore the effect of metformin on preeclampsia.

STUDY DESIGN

We examined control diet-fed (isocaloric diet) pregnant mice (CTRL group), pregnant mice fed a high-fat diet (HF group), and high-fat-diet-fed pregnant mice treated with metformin (HF-M group). The HF mice were fed a high-fat diet six weeks before pregnancy to establish a preeclampsia-like model; then, the group was randomly divided into a HF group and a HF-M group after pregnancy. Blood pressure, urine protein, pregnancy outcomes, protein expression, and histopathological changes in the placentas of all groups were examined and statistically analysed.

RESULTS

We observed that metformin significantly improved high blood pressure, proteinuria, and foetal and placental weights in the HF-M group compared with the HF group. Metformin significantly improved placental labyrinth and foetal vascular development in preeclampsia. In addition, metformin effectively increased matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in the placenta.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that metformin can improve preeclamptic symptoms and pregnancy outcomes.

Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis and Increased Plasma LPS and TMAO Levels in Patients With Preeclampsia

Objective: To characterize the gut microbiota in patients with preeclampsia (PE) compared with healthy controls.

Methods: We analyzed and compared the microbiota communities in the feces of 48 PE patients with 48 age-, gestational weeks-, and pre-pregnancy body mass index-matched healthy controls using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and also we tested fecal and plasma lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and plasma trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) concentration levels in the two groups.

Results: Compared with the control group, microbial alpha diversity was lower in the PE group, but there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. At the phylum level, Firmicutes (51.64% PE vs. 59.62% Control, P < 0.05), Bacteroidetes (40.51% PE vs. 34.81% Control, P< 0.05), Proteobacteria (4.51% PE vs. 2.56% Control, P < 0.05), and Actinobacteria (2.90% PE vs. 1.77% Control, P < 0.05), exhibited significant differences between the PE group and the control group. LEfSe analysis found 17 differentially abundant taxa between the two groups. PICRUSt analysis found that in the KEGG pathways, the microbial gene functions related to LPS biosynthesis were higher in the fecal microbiome of the PE group. The fecal and plasma LPS concentrations and plasma TMAO concentrations of PE patients were higher than those of the healthy controls.

Conclusion: PE patients had gut microbiota dysbiosis and increased plasma LPS and TMAO levels, which will lead to a better understanding of the relationship between the gut microbiota and PE.

MicroRNAs in Uteroplacental Vascular Dysfunction

Pregnancy complications of preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) are major causes of maternal and perinatal/neonatal morbidity and mortality. Although their etiologies remain elusive, it is generally accepted that they are secondary to placental insufficiency conferred by both failure in spiral artery remodeling and uteroplacental vascular malfunction. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small no-coding RNA molecules that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. Increasing evidence suggests that miRNAs participate in virtually all biological processes and are involved in numerous human diseases. Differentially expressed miRNAs in the placenta are typical features of both preeclampsia and IUGR. Dysregulated miRNAs target genes of various signaling pathways in uteroplacental tissues, contributing to the development of both complications. In this review, we provide an overview of how aberrant miRNA expression in preeclampsia and IUGR impacts the expression of genes involved in trophoblast invasion and uteroplacental vascular adaptation.

Placental MRI: Developing Accurate Quantitative Measures of Oxygenation

The Human Placenta Project has focused attention on the need for noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based techniques to diagnose and monitor placental function throughout pregnancy. The hope is that the management of placenta-related pathologies would be improved if physicians had more direct, real-time measures of placental health to guide clinical decision making. As oxygen alters signal intensity on MRI and oxygen transport is a key function of the placenta, many of the MRI methods under development are focused on quantifying oxygen transport or oxygen content of the placenta. For example, measurements from blood oxygen level-dependent imaging of the placenta during maternal hyperoxia correspond to outcomes in twin pregnancies, suggesting that some aspects of placental oxygen transport can be monitored by MRI. Additional methods are being developed to accurately quantify baseline placental oxygenation by MRI relaxometry. However, direct validation of placental MRI methods is challenging and therefore animal studies and ex vivo studies of human placentas are needed. Here we provide an overview of the current state of the art of oxygen transport and quantification with MRI. We suggest that as these techniques are being developed, increased focus be placed on ensuring they are robust and reliable across individuals and standardized to enable predictive diagnostic models to be generated from the data. The field is still several years away from establishing the clinical benefit of monitoring placental function in real time with MRI, but the promise of individual personalized diagnosis and monitoring of placental disease in real time continues to motivate this effort.

Metabolomics Identifies Placental Dysfunction and Confirms Flt-1 (FMS-Like Tyrosine Kinase Receptor 1) Biomarker Specificity

Clinical end-stage parameters define the pregnancy disorders preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction while classification of the underlying placental dysfunction is missing and urgently needed. Flt-1 (FMS-like tyrosine kinase receptor 1) is the most promising placenta-derived predictive biomarker for preeclampsia. We aimed to classify placental dysfunction in preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction at delivery by metabolic profiling and authenticate the biomarker Flt-1 for placental dysfunction. We studied 143 pregnancies with or without preeclampsia and/or fetal growth restriction delivered by cesarean section. Metabolic placenta profiles were created by high-resolution magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and the resulting placental phenotypes obtained by hierarchical clustering. Placental Flt-1 expression (membrane-bound and soluble isoforms combined) and maternal serum Flt-1 expression (soluble isoforms) were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and ELISA, respectively. We identified 3 distinct placenta groups by 21 metabolites and diagnostic outcome parameters; normal placentas, moderate placental dysfunction, and severe placental dysfunction. Increased placental Flt-1 was associated with severe placental dysfunction, and increased serum Flt-1 was associated with moderate and severe placental dysfunction. The preeclamptic pregnancies with and without placental dysfunction could be distinguished by 5 metabolites and placental Flt-1. Placental Flt-1 alone could separate normal pregnancies with and without placental dysfunction. In conclusion, metabolomics could classify placental dysfunction and provide information not identified by traditional diagnostics and metabolites with biomarker potential were identified. Flt-1 was confirmed as precision biomarker for placental dysfunction, substantiating its usefulness for identification of high-risk pregnancies for preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction with placental involvement.

Down-regulated circPAPPA suppresses the proliferation and invasion of trophoblast cells via the miR-384/STAT3 pathway

Preeclampsia (PE) is the main cause of maternal death in primipara, and commonly results in severe maternal and neonatal complications such as multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. However, the exact pathogenesis of this disease remains unclear. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are noncoding RNAs that have been shown to be extensively involved in numerous physiological processes, but there is limited knowledge of their functions and mechanisms in PE. In the present study, we found the expression of a circRNA, hsa_circ_0088227 (circRNA of pregnancy-associated plasma protein A, circPAPPA), was down-regulated in both placenta and plasma samples from subjects with PE. Knockdown of circPAPPA led to decreased proliferation and invasion in HTR8-S/Vneo trophoblast cells. miR-384 was identified as a direct target of circPAPPA, and the gene encoding signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) was targeted by miR-384. We found that miR-384 was unregulated in PE, and overexpression of miR-384 could inhibit cell proliferation and invasion. In addition, we showed that the expression of STAT3 was decreased with knockdown of circPAPPA or the overexpression of miR-384 in trophoblast cells, but this decrease was partially reversed when co-transfection was performed with mimics of miR-384 inhibitor and si-circPAPPA. Together, these results suggest that down-regulation of circPAPPA facilitates the onset and development of PE by suppressing trophoblast cells, with involvement of the miR-384/STAT3 signaling pathway. Our study significantly increases the understanding of the occurrence and development of PE, and also provides a molecular target for the treatment of this disorder.

Automated segmentation of villi in histopathology images of placenta

PURPOSE

Manual analysis of clinical placenta pathology samples under the microscope is a costly and time-consuming task. Computer-aided diagnosis might offer a means to obtain fast and reliable results and also substantially reduce inter- and intra-rater variability. Here, we present a fully automated segmentation method that is capable of distinguishing the complex histological features of the human placenta (i.e., the chorionic villous structures).

METHODS

The proposed pipeline consists of multiple steps to segment individual placental villi structures in hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained placental images. Artifacts and undesired objects in the histological field of view are detected and excluded from further analysis. One of the challenges in our new algorithm is the detection and segmentation of touching villi in our dataset. The proposed algorithm uses the top-hat transformation to detect candidate concavities in each structure, which might represent two distinct villous structures in close proximity. The detected concavities are classified by extracting multiple features from each candidate concavity. Our proposed pipeline is evaluated against manual segmentations, confirmed by an expert pathologist, on 12 scans from three healthy control patients and nine patients diagnosed with preeclampsia, containing nearly 5000 individual villi. The results of our method are compared to a previously published method for villi segmentation.

RESULTS

Our algorithm detected placental villous structures with an F1 score of 80.76% and sensitivity of 82.18%. These values are substantially better than the previously published method, whose F1 score and sensitivity are 65.30% and 55.12%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Our method is capable of distinguishing the complex histological features of the human placenta (i.e., the chorionic villous structures), removing artifacts over a large histopathology sample of human placenta, and (importantly) account for touching adjacent villi structures. Compared to existing methods, our developed method yielded high accuracy in detecting villi in placental images.

Pregnancy Hypertension and a Commonly Inherited IGF1R Variant (rs2016347) Reduce Breast Cancer Risk by Enhancing Mammary Gland Involution

BACKGROUND

Terminal duct lobular units (TDLUs) are the anatomic sites of breast cancer initiation, and breast tissue involution resulting in lower TDLU counts has been associated with decreased breast cancer risk. The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) pathway plays a role in breast involution, and systemic changes in this developmental pathway occur with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), which have also been associated with lower breast cancer risk, especially in women carrying a functional variant of IGF1R SNP rs2016347. We proposed that this breast cancer protective effect might be explained by increased breast tissue involution.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort study utilizing the Komen Tissue Bank, which collects breast tissue core biopsies from women without a history of breast cancer. Eighty white non-Hispanic women with a history of HDP were selected along with 120 nonexposed participants, and after genotyping for rs2016347, TDLU parameters were histologically measured blinded to participant characteristics from fixed biopsy sections.

RESULTS

Stratified models by HDP status demonstrated that among HDP+ participants, those carrying two T alleles of rs2016347 had a decrease in TDLU counts of 53.2% when compared to those with no T alleles (p=0.049). Trend analysis demonstrated a multiplicative decrease in counts of 31.6% per T allele (p=0.050). Although no statistically significant interaction was seen between HDP status and T alleles, interaction terms showed increasingly negative values reaching a p value of 0.124 for HDP × 2T alleles.

CONCLUSIONS

The observed statistically significant decrease in TDLU counts signifies increased breast epithelial involution in women with prior HDP who inherited the TT genotype of IGF1R SNP rs2016347. The increasing degree of breast involution with greater rs2016347 T allele copy number is consistent with the known progressive reduction in IGF1R expression in breast and other normal tissues.

The role of altered immune function during the dry period in promoting the development of subclinical ketosis in early lactation

Subclinical ketosis (SCK) may impair white blood cell (WBC) function and thus contribute to the risk of disease postpartum. This preliminary study investigated changes occurring in the immune system before disease onset to elucidate their role in the occurrence of SCK. A group of 13 Holstein dairy cows were housed in tie-stalls and retrospectively divided into 2 groups based on their levels of β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) measured in plasma between calving day and 35 d from calving (DFC). Levels of BHB <1.4 mmol/L were found in 7 cows (control cows, CTR group) and levels >1.4 mmol/L were found in 6 cows at ≥1 of 6 time points considered (cows with SCK, KET group). From -48 to 35 DFC, body condition score, body weight, dry matter intake, rumination time, and milk yield were measured, and blood samples were collected regularly to assess the hematochemical profile and test the WBC function by ex vivo challenge assays. Data were submitted for ANOVA testing using a mixed model for repeated measurements that included health status and time and their interactions as fixed effects. Compared with CTR cows, KET cows had more pronounced activation of the immune system (higher plasma concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines, myeloperoxidase, and oxidant species, and greater IFN-γ responses to Mycobacterium avium), higher blood concentrations of γ-glutamyl transferase, and lower plasma concentrations of minerals before calving. Higher levels of nonesterified fatty acids, BHB, and glucose were detected in KET cows than in CTR cows during the dry period. The effect observed during the dry period was associated with a reduced dry matter intake, reduced plasma glucose, and increased fat mobilization (further increases in nonesterified fatty acids and BHB) during early lactation. A reduced milk yield was also detected in KET cows compared with CTR. The KET cows had an accentuated acute-phase response after calving (with greater concentrations of positive acute-phase proteins and lower concentrations of retinol than CTR cows) and impaired liver function (higher blood concentrations of glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase and bilirubin). The WBC of the KET cows, compared with CTR cows, had a reduced response to an ex vivo stimulation assay, with lower production of proinflammatory cytokines and greater production of lactate. These alterations in the WBC could have been driven by the combined actions of metabolites related to the mobilization of lipids and the occurrence of a transient unresponsive state against stimulation aimed at preventing excessive inflammation. The associations identified here in a small number of cows in one herd should be investigated in larger studies.

Role of vitamin D in influencing angiogenesis in preeclampsia

Objective: Vitamin D plays a key role during pregnancy and is involved in implantation and maintenance of pregnancy. Its deficiency is associated with pregnancy complications like preeclampsia, characterized by abnormal angiogenesis.Method: The current article summarises studies examining the role of vitamin D in pregnancy, with special emphasis on preeclampsia.Results and conclusion: An imbalance in pro- and anti-angiogenic factors is reported in women with preeclampsia. Cell culture studies have demonstrated that vitamin D can influence the process of angiogenesis. However, the role of maternal vitamin D in influencing placental angiogenesis in preeclampsia is unclear and needs to be explored.

Novel association of SNP rs479200 in EGLN1 gene with predisposition to preeclampsia

OBJECTIVES

Placental hypoxia is a hallmark of preeclampsia. SNP rs479200 in the EGLN1 gene is associated with reduced responsiveness to hypoxia. Whether this translates into an association between SNP rs479200 and preeclampsia is not known. We evaluated the association of SNP rs479200 (T>C) with the risk of preeclampsia.

METHODS

This case-control study involved 600 pregnant women of whom 300 were preeclamptic and 300 were normotensive. SNP rs479200 was genotyped by PCR-RFLP method.

RESULT

Minor allele frequency was 44% in preeclamptic women and 53% in normotensive pregnant women (P = 1.8 × 10^-3; odds ratio = 1.43). The odds ratio was heterogeneous when compared after categorization of the preeclamptic group into clinical sub-groups. The association was significant with both mild (P = 6.2 × 10^-5) and severe (3.8 × 10^-3) preeclampsia. However, the odds ratio was 0.52 for mild preeclampsia and 1.43 for severe preeclampsia.

CONCLUSION

The minor allele of SNP rs479200 is associated with the predisposition to preeclampsia. This association underlines the importance of oxygen sensing in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.

Pre-eclampsia: pathophysiology and clinical implications

Pre-eclampsia is a common disorder that particularly affects first pregnancies. The clinical presentation is highly variable but hypertension and proteinuria are usually seen. These systemic signs arise from soluble factors released from the placenta as a result of a response to stress of syncytiotrophoblast. There are two sub-types: early and late onset pre-eclampsia, with others almost certainly yet to be identified. Early onset pre-eclampsia arises owing to defective placentation, whilst late onset pre-eclampsia may center around interactions between normal senescence of the placenta and a maternal genetic predisposition to cardiovascular and metabolic disease. The causes, placental and maternal, vary among individuals. Recent research has focused on placental-uterine interactions in early pregnancy. The aim now is to translate these findings into new ways to predict, prevent, and treat pre-eclampsia.

Circulating soluble LR11, a differentiation regulator for vascular cells, is increased during pregnancy and exaggerated in patients with pre-eclampsia

BACKGROUND

Pre-eclampsia is a pregnancy-specific disease characterized by onset of hypertension and proteinuria, sometimes progressing into damaging other organs. Here, we investigated the pathological significance of the soluble fragment of LR11 (sLR11), a cell differentiation regulator, in comparison to circulating IL-6 and TNF-α, in pre-eclampsia.

METHODS

The study was conducted in a cross-sectional research design with fourteen pre-eclampsia patients and fifty healthy pregnant subjects. Pre-eclampsia was defined as hypertensive disorders in pregnancy at over 20 weeks of gestation with proteinuria.

RESULTS

Plasma levels of sLR11 as well as IL-6 in pre-eclampsia were increased compared with those in the healthy pregnant subjects at the first, the second, and the third trimester. Receiver operating characteristic analysis for the detection of pre-eclampsia among third-trimester subjects showed that the areas under the curves of sLR11 and IL-6 were equivalent. sLR11 and IL-6 correlated positively with TNF-α in healthy pregnant subjects. In the pre-eclampsia patients, there was neither a correlation between sLR11 and IL-6 nor between sLR11 and TNF-α.

CONCLUSIONS

sLR11 increases during pregnancy, with levels further exaggerated in pre-eclampsia, and may be related to the pathology of pre-eclampsia.

The serum level of soluble CXCL16 is increased in preeclampsia and associated with hepatic/renal damage

OBJECTIVE

To compare the serum level of the chemokine, CXCL 16, in preeclamptic and healthy pregnant patients.

METHODS

This prospective case control study was conducted between January and December 2018 in a tertiary level hospital. The study group was formed of 70 pregnant women diagnosed with preeclampsia, and the control group was formed of 70 healthy pregnant women matched to the study group in respect of age, gestational week and body mass index (BMI). The study group was separated into two subgroups of mild preeclampsia (n = 35) and severe preeclampsia (n = 35). The groups were compared in terms of demographic and clinical parameters and the levels of serum CXCL 16.

RESULTS

No statistically significant difference was determined between the study and control groups in respect of maternal age, gravida, parity, BMI, and gestational age at sampling. Neonatal birth weight was significantly lower in the study group than in the control group. Mean serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST) and creatinine levels of the study group were significantly higher than those of the control group (p < .05 for all). There was a statistically significant difference between the study and control groups regarding the mean platelet count. Compared to the control group, the severe and mild preeclampsia groups had a significantly higher serum level of CXCL 16. The serum level of CXCL 16 was significantly higher in patients with severe preeclampsia than in patients with mild preeclampsia (2.94 ± 3.89 pg mL^-1 vs. 1.08 ± 1.87 pg mL^-1, p = .14). Correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation of serum CXCL 16 level with serum ALT level (r = 0.320, p ≤ .001) and serum AST level (r = 0.373, p ≤ .001) and serum creatinine level (r = 0.279, p = .01) in both groups. High values indicated presence of preeclampsia, with a diagnostic cut-off point of 0.225, sensitivity of 75.7% and specificity of 72.9% for CXCL 16 (area under curve: 0.820, p < .001 CI: 0.753-0.888).

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first study in literature to show a significantly higher level of CXCL 16 in patients with severe preeclampsia compared to those with mild preeclampsia. The study can also be considered of value in respect of showing that CXCL 16 could play a role in the etiopathogenesis of preeclampsia and the emergence of renal-hepatic damage. Blocking the CXCL 16/CXCR six axis in preeclampsia treatment could lay the ground for the development of new drugs which could be used in the treatment of preeclampsia.

Mediterranean-style diet in pregnant women with metabolic risk factors (ESTEEM): A pragmatic multicentre randomised trial

BACKGROUND

Pregnant women with metabolic risk factors are at high risk of complications. We aimed to assess whether a Mediterranean-style diet reduces adverse pregnancy outcomes in high-risk women.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

We conducted a multicentre randomised trial in 5 maternity units (4 in London and 1 in Birmingham) between 12 September 2014 and 29 February 2016. We randomised inner-city pregnant women with metabolic risk factors (obesity, chronic hypertension, or hypertriglyceridaemia) to a Mediterranean-style diet with high intake of nuts, extra virgin olive oil, fruits, vegetables, nonrefined grains, and legumes; moderate to high consumption of fish; low to moderate intake of poultry and dairy products; low intake of red and processed meat; and avoidance of sugary drinks, fast food, and food rich in animal fat versus usual care. Participants received individualised dietary advice at 18, 20, and 28 weeks' gestation. The primary endpoints were composite maternal (gestational diabetes or preeclampsia) and composite offspring (stillbirth, small for gestational age, or admission to neonatal care unit) outcomes prioritised by a Delphi survey. We used an intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis with multivariable models and identified the stratification variables and prognostic factors a priori. We screened 7,950 and randomised 1,252 women. Baseline data were available for 593 women in the intervention (93.3% follow-up, 553/593) and 612 in the control (95.6% follow-up, 585/612) groups. Over a quarter of randomised women were primigravida (330/1,205; 27%), 60% (729/1,205) were of Black or Asian ethnicity, and 69% (836/1,205) were obese. Women in the intervention arm consumed more nuts (70.1% versus 22.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 6.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.3-10.6, p ≤ 0.001) and extra virgin olive oil (93.2% versus 49.0%; aOR 32.2, 95% CI 16.0-64.6, p ≤ 0.001) than controls; increased their intake of fish (p < 0.001), white meat (p < 0.001), and pulses (p = 0.05); and reduced their intake of red meat (p < 0.001), butter, margarine, and cream (p < 0.001). There was no significant reduction in the composite maternal (22.8% versus 28.6%; aOR 0.76, 95% CI 0.56-1.03, p = 0.08) or composite offspring (17.3% versus 20.9%; aOR 0.79, 95% CI 0.58-1.08, p = 0.14) outcomes. There was an apparent reduction in the odds of gestational diabetes by 35% (aOR 0.65, 95% CI 0.47-0.91, p = 0.01) but not in other individual components of the composite outcomes. Mothers gained less gestational weight (mean 6.8 versus 8.3 kg; adjusted difference -1.2 Kg, 95% CI -2.2 to -0.2, p = 0.03) with intervention versus control. There was no difference in any of the other maternal and offspring complications between both groups. When we pooled findings from the Effect of Simple, Targeted Diet in Pregnant Women With Metabolic Risk Factors on Pregnancy Outcomes (ESTEEM) trial with similar trials using random effects meta-analysis, we observed a significant reduction in gestational diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 0.67, 95% CI 0.53-0.84, I2 = 0%), with no heterogeneity (2 trials, 2,397 women). The study's limitations include the use of participant reported tools for adherence to the intervention instead of objective biomarkers.

CONCLUSIONS

A simple, individualised, Mediterranean-style diet in pregnancy did not reduce the overall risk of adverse maternal and offspring complications but has the potential to reduce gestational weight gain and the risk of gestational diabetes.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02218931.

Low Birth Weight, Blood Pressure and Renal Susceptibility

PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW

The purpose of this review is to highlight the clinical significance of increased renal risk that has its origins in fetal life. This review will also discuss the critical need to identify therapeutic interventions for use in a pregnancy complicated by placental dysfunction and intrauterine growth restriction that can mitigate the developmental origins of kidney disease without inflicting additional harm on the developing fetus.

RECENT FINDINGS

A reduction in nephron number is a contributory factor in the pathogenesis of hypertension and kidney disease in low birth weight individuals. Reduced nephron number may heighten susceptibility to a secondary renal insult, and recent studies suggest that perinatal history including birth weight should be considered in the assessment of renal risk in kidney donors. This review highlights current findings related to placental dysfunction, intrauterine growth restriction, increased risk for renal injury and disease, and potential therapeutic interventions.

The Role of Melatonin in Oxidative Stress, DNA Damage, Apoptosis and Angiogenesis in Fetal Eye under Preeclampsia and Melatonin Deficiency Stress

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the possible mechanisms of ocular damage induced by pinealectomy (PNX) and preeclampsia (PE), and to determine the cellular and molecular effects of melatonin treatment on oxidative stress, DNA damage, molecular chaperone responses, induction of apoptosis and angiogenesis in the fetal eye of both PNX and PNX+PE animals. Material and Methods: We analysed therapeutic potential of melatonin on fetal eye damage in PNX and PNX+PE animals using Malondialdehyde (MDA), Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), qRT-PCR and Western blot assays. Results: Our study presents three preliminary findings: (a) in fetal eye tissues, PNX and PNX+PE significantly induce oxidative damage to both DNA and protein contents, leading to a dramatic increase in caspase-dependent apoptotic signalling in both mitochondrial and death receptor pathways; (b) the same conditions trigger hypoxia biomarkers in addition to significant overexpression of HIF1-α, HIF1-β, MMP9 and VEGF genes in the fetal eye; (c) finally, melatonin regulates not only the expression of genes encoding antioxidant enzymes and increase in DNA damage as well as lipid peroxidation but also limits programmed cell death processes in the fetal eye of PNX and PNX+PE animals . Furthermore, melatonin can relatively modulate genes in the HIF1 family, TNF-α and VEGF, thus acting as a direct anti-angiogenic molecule. In conclusion, both PNX and PNX+PE induce ocular damage at both cellular and molecular levels in fetal eye tissue of rats. Conclusion: Our results clearly indicate the potential of melatonin as a preventative therapeutic intervention for fetal ocular damage triggered by both PNX and PNX+PE.

The Role of Nitric Oxide, ADMA, and Homocysteine in The Etiopathogenesis of Preeclampsia-Review

Preeclampsia is a serious, pregnancy-specific, multi-organ disease process of compound aetiology. It affects 3–6% of expecting mothers worldwide and it persists as a leading cause of maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality. In fact, hallmark features of preeclampsia (PE) result from vessel involvement and demonstrate maternal endothelium as a target tissue. Growing evidence suggests that chronic placental hypoperfusion triggers the production and release of certain agents that are responsible for endothelial activation and injury. In this review, we will present the latest findings on the role of nitric oxide, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), and homocysteine in the etiopathogenesis of preeclampsia and their possible clinical implications.

Placental Ageing in Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: Telomere Shortening, Cell Senescence, and Mitochondrial Dysfunction

Preeclampsia is a multisystemic pregnancy disorder and a major cause of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. The exact pathophysiology of preeclampsia remains unclear; however, it is speculated that the various pathologies can be attributed to impaired vascular remodelling and elevated oxidative stress within the placenta. Oxidative stress plays a key role in cell ageing, and the persistent presence of elevated oxidative stress precipitates cellular senescence and mitochondrial dysfunction, resulting in premature ageing of the placenta. Premature ageing of the placenta is associated with placental insufficiency, which reduces the functional capacity of this critical organ and leads to abnormal pregnancy outcomes. The changes brought about by oxidative insults are irreversible and often lead to deleterious modifications in macromolecules such as lipids and proteins, DNA mutations, and alteration of mitochondrial functioning and dynamics. In this review, we have summarized the current knowledge of placental ageing in the aetiology of adverse pregnancy outcomes and discussed the hallmarks of ageing which could be potential markers for preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction.

The kynurenine pathway; A new target for treating maternal features of preeclampsia?

In preeclampsia, vasospasm, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, and immune dysregulation are key mediators of maternal disease. A new time-of-disease treatment is needed with the potential to treat these areas of pathophysiology. A review of the literature has indicated that metabolites of the kynurenine pathway have the potential to; (i) induce vasorelaxation of resistance arteries and reduce blood pressure; (ii) exert antioxidant effects and reduce the effects of poly-ADP ribose polymerase activation (iii) prevent endothelial dysfunction and promote endothelial nitric oxide production; (iv) cause T cell differentiation into tolerogenic regulatory T cells and induce apoptosis of pro-inflammatory Th1 cells. This has led to the hypothesis that increasing Kynurenine pathway activity may offer a new treatment strategy for preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia link to gestational hypoxia

Complications of pregnancy remain key drivers of morbidity and mortality, affecting the health of both the mother and her offspring in the short and long term. There is lack of detailed understanding of the pathways involved in the pathology and pathogenesis of compromised pregnancy, as well as a shortfall of effective prognostic, diagnostic and treatment options. In many complications of pregnancy, such as in preeclampsia, there is an increase in uteroplacental vascular resistance. However, the cause and effect relationship between placental dysfunction and adverse outcomes in the mother and her offspring remains uncertain. In this review, we aim to highlight the value of gestational hypoxia-induced complications of pregnancy in elucidating underlying molecular pathways and in assessing candidate therapeutic options for these complex disorders. Chronic maternal hypoxia not only mimics the placental pathology associated with obstetric syndromes like gestational hypertension at morphological, molecular and functional levels, but also recapitulates key symptoms that occur as maternal and fetal clinical manifestations of these pregnancy disorders. We propose that gestational hypoxia provides a useful model to study the inter-relationship between placental dysfunction and adverse outcomes in the mother and her offspring in a wide array of examples of complicated pregnancy, such as in preeclampsia.

Histological chorioamnionitis at term according to labor onset: a prospective controlled study

OBJECTIVE

To study the incidence of histological chorioamnionitis (HCA) in term pregnancies according to labor onset.

STUDY DESIGN

During 2013-6, term pregnancy placentas were prospectively sent to histopathology evaluation, and compared between patients with spontaneous onset labor, pre-labor ROM, labor induction and elective cesarean deliveries.

RESULTS

A total of 260 placentas were obtained, 65 from each group. Rates of HCA for the spontaneous labor, PROM, induction and CD groups were: 49, 32, 24 and 4%, respectively (p < 0.001). Composite neonatal outcome was non-significant between the study groups, and between cases with and without HCA. In a logistic regression model, after controlling for parity - gestational age, mode of delivery, ROM > 12 h and spontaneous onset of labor were found to be independent risk factors for HCA.

CONCLUSION

HCA at term is prevalent in spontaneous labor and supports the association between the inflammatory processes and activation of the physiological signals of parturition.

Maternal circulating miRNAs that predict infant FASD outcomes influence placental maturation

Maternal gestational circulating microRNAs, predictive of adverse infant outcomes, including growth deficits, following prenatal alcohol exposure, contribute to placental pathology by impairing the EMT pathway in trophoblasts.

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), like other pregnancy complications, can result in placental insufficiency and fetal growth restriction, although the linking causal mechanisms are unclear. We previously identified 11 gestationally elevated maternal circulating miRNAs (_HEamiRNAs) that predicted infant growth deficits following PAE. Here, we investigated whether these _HEamiRNAs contribute to the pathology of PAE, by inhibiting trophoblast epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), a pathway critical for placental development. We now report for the first time that PAE inhibits expression of placental pro-EMT pathway members in both rodents and primates, and that _HEamiRNAs collectively, but not individually, mediate placental EMT inhibition. _HEamiRNAs collectively, but not individually, also inhibited cell proliferation and the EMT pathway in cultured trophoblasts, while inducing cell stress, and following trophoblast syncytialization, aberrant endocrine maturation. Moreover, a single intravascular administration of the pooled murine-expressed _HEamiRNAs, to pregnant mice, decreased placental and fetal growth and inhibited the expression of pro-EMT transcripts in the placenta. Our data suggest that _HEamiRNAs collectively interfere with placental development, contributing to the pathology of PAE, and perhaps also, to other causes of fetal growth restriction.

Histological Features of Shallow Placental Implantation Unify Early-Onset and Late-Onset Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is distinguishable from other hypertensive conditions of pregnancy by its high rates of decidual arteriopathy, the uterine type of chronic hypoxic placental injury, the occurrence of villous infarctions, and clusters of multinucleate trophoblasts in the maternal floor. To retrospectively study the clinical and placental phenotypes of 230 women with early-onset preeclampsia, 261 women with late-onset preeclampsia, and 5059 women without hypertension in pregnancy (comparative group), 24 clinical and 46 placental phenotypes were statistically compared (analysis of variance, χ² with Bonferroni correction). The frequency of decidual arteriopathy (both hypertrophic and atherosis), patterns of chronic hypoxic placental injury, villous infarction, membrane laminar necrosis, membrane microscopic chorionic pseudocysts, clusters of maternal floor multinucleated trophoblasts, excessive number of extravillous trophoblasts, and intervillous thrombi was strikingly higher in both late-onset preeclampsia and early-onset preeclampsia than in the comparative group without hypertension in pregnancy. All 3 patterns of chronic hypoxic placental injury were 2- to 3-fold more common in preeclampsia. Although the preuterine pattern was as common in early-onset preeclampsia as it was in late-onset preeclampsia, the postuterine pattern was 2-fold more common in early-onset preeclampsia, and chronic villitis of unknown etiology was more common in late-onset preeclampsia than in the other 2 groups. Features of shallow placental implantation occurred at the same frequency in early-onset preeclampsia as in late-onset preeclampsia, which reflects an underlying common pathological mechanism in both subgroups of preeclampsia, while hypoxic lesions and patterns of placental injury were more common in early-onset preeclampsia than in late-onset preeclampsia, which correlates with more severe clinical outcomes of the former.

Plasma concentrations of soluble endoglin in the maternal circulation are associated with maternal vascular malperfusion lesions in the placenta of women with preeclampsia

We evaluated the association between plasma soluble endoglin (sENG) and maternal vascular malperfusion (MVM) lesions of the placenta in women with preeclampsia. We measured sENG (sCD105) by ELISA in N = 70 women diagnosed with preeclampsia (median [IQR] GA at sampling = 36.4 [6.0] weeks) and available placental pathology. Placental pathology reports were reviewed for evidence of MVM based on the presence of ≥1 of the following: villous infarct, decidual vasculopathy, accelerated villous maturation, intervillous fibrin deposition, and/or low placental weight (<10th percentile for GA). We categorized plasma sENG concentrations into tertiles and used a modified Poisson regression approach to estimate the prevalence of MVM associated with sENG. We separately estimated the association between sENG and accelerated villous maturation, villous infarct, and low placental weight, the three most frequent lesions in the sample. We adjusted all models for age, parity, pre-pregnancy obesity, smoking, and infant sex. The prevalence of MVM in our sample of women with preeclampsia was 74%. Women in the highest sENG tertile had a higher prevalence of MVM (aPR[adjusted prevalence ratio] 1.70, 95% CI 1.15-2.52), low placental weight (aPR 3.26, 95% CI 1.25-8.50), and villous infarcts (aPR 2.93, 95% CI 1.27-6.73) compared with women in the lowest sENG tertile, after adjusting for covariates. Medium (aPR 2.57, 95% CI 1.17-5.66) and high (aPR 3.14, 95% CI 1.47-6.70) tertile concentrations of sENG were associated with higher accelerated villous maturation. Our results suggest that sENG may mark a more severe placental phenotype of preeclampsia, although findings should be replicated in larger cohorts.

Endothelial dysfunction in pregnancy metabolic disorders

In recent years, the vascular endothelium has gained attention as a key player in the initiation and development of pregnancy disorders. Endothelium acts as an endocrine organ that preserves the homeostatic balance by responding to changes in metabolic status. However, in metabolic disorders, endothelial cells adopt a dysfunctional function, losing their normal responsiveness. During pregnancy, several metabolic changes occur, in which endothelial function decisively participates. Similarly, when pregnancy metabolic disorders occur, endothelial dysfunction plays a key role in pathogenesis. This review outlines the main findings regarding endothelial dysfunction in three main metabolic pathological conditions observed during pregnancy: gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders, and obesity and hyperlipidemia. Organ, histological and cellular characteristics were thoroughly described. Also, we focused in discussing the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in the cellular signaling pathways that mediate responses in these pathological conditions.

Multi-modal functional MRI to explore placental function over gestation

PURPOSE

To investigate, visualize and quantify the physiology of the human placenta in several dimensions - functional, temporal over gestation, and spatial over the whole organ.

METHODS

Bespoke MRI techniques, combining a rich diffusion protocol, anatomical data and T2* mapping together with a multi-modal pipeline including motion correction and extracted quantitative features were developed and employed on pregnant women between 22 and 38 weeks gestational age including two pregnancies diagnosed with pre-eclampsia.

RESULTS

A multi-faceted assessment was demonstrated showing trends of increasing lacunarity, and decreasing T2* and diffusivity over gestation.

CONCLUSIONS

The obtained multi-modal acquisition and quantification shows promising opportunities for studying evolution, adaptation and compensation processes.

Delayed hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count syndrome in succession of switches of preventive anticoagulant treatment in a 41-year-old patient with a history of recurrent assisted implantation failures: a case report

Background

For the past decades the mean age of primiparae in Western societies is constantly increasing. At the same time, there is a growing demand for assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Subsequently, a higher prevalence of pregnancy-associated diseases such as gestational hypertension and preeclampsia is observed. To improve pregnancy rates after in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection and to reduce the risk of pregnancy-associated diseases with a cardiovascular pathophysiology, two anticoagulants are the focus of current research: low molecular weight heparin and acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin).

Case presentation

A 41-year-old white woman, gravida 3, para 0, received low molecular weight heparin to reduce the risk of abortion after five unsuccessful intracytoplasmic sperm injections and two miscarriages. She autonomously discontinued the medication with low molecular weight heparin at 12 weeks and 2 days of gestation and took aspirin instead until 24 weeks and 2 days of gestation as preeclampsia prophylaxis. However, the pregnancy ended with an urgent cesarean section at 27 weeks and 4 days of gestation due to a fast progressing hemolysis, elevated liver enzyme levels, and low blood platelet count syndrome, a potentially life-threatening variant of preeclampsia.

Conclusion

Based on the current demographic trend toward late-in-life pregnancy it is mandatory to establish clear guidelines concerning preventive treatment options of preeclampsia for patients with risk factors. The establishment of a special first-trimester screening for these women should be discussed. Moreover, it is necessary to raise the awareness among physicians of these contemporary issues to guarantee the best possible medical care.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13256-018-1943-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.