Tissue anticoagulants in the human placenta: preliminary study with a heparin-like anticoagulant and review of the literature

Expression of nitric oxide synthase isoforms in the human placenta is not altered by labor

Nitric oxide has various biological activities including smooth muscle relaxation, anti-inflammatory activity, anti-coagulatory activity. As the human placenta is known to express nitric oxide synthases, this study investigated the possible effect of labor on the expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in human placental tissues at term. Both eNOS and iNOS mRNA expression in placental tissues in labor were significantly higher than those in the amnion, chorion laeve, decidua vera and myometrium. The eNOS mRNA and protein expressions in placental tissues in labor (n = 12) were 1.6023 +/- 0.1652 (eNOS/GAPDH, mean +/- SEM) and 12.8 +/- 1.3 arbitrary units (AU), respectively, which were similar to those not in labor (n = 10), 1.5806 +/- 0.2042 (eNOS/GAPDH) and 11.4 +/- 1.8 AU. The iNOS mRNA and protein expressions in the placental tissues in labor were 1.2831 +/- 0.2436 (iNOS/GAPDH) and 10.7 +/- 2.1 AU respectively, similar to those not in labor, 1.9254 +/- 0.8004 (iNOS/GAPDH) and 13.3 +/- 1.8 AU. The guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) concentration in the placental tissues in labor was 23.6 +/- 1.4 fmol/g wet tissue, similar to that not in labor, 26.1 +/- 2.0 fmol/g wet tissue. These findings suggest that nitric oxide production in the human placenta is maintained during labor.

Studies on placental inhibition of platelet aggregation: a comparison of human syncytiotrophoblast brush border and basal plasma membranes

We compared the platelet aggregation inhibiting activity of human placental syncytiotrophoblast brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) and basal plasma membrane vesicles (BpMV), and obtained the following results. Strong platelet aggregation inhibiting activity is found in placental BBMV. BBMV inhibited platelet aggregation induced by ADP (adenosine diphosphate) and arachidonic acid in a way which depended on the protein concentration of BBMV added. In contrast, BpMV showed no detectable platelet aggregation inhibiting activity. Quite high ADP degrading activity (ADPase activity) was present in the placental BBMV. ADP was quickly degraded by BBMV. In contrast, BpMV did not degrade ADP so quickly. Platelet TXB2 production was almost completely abolished at the protein concentration of 40 micrograms/ml of BBMV. In contrast, BpMV did not significantly inhibit platelet TXA2 (TXB2) production. These results show that syncytiotrophoblast brush border and basal plasma membranes of the human placenta have markedly different properties with respect to platelet aggregation inhibiting activity.