Inhibin, activin, follistatin, activin receptors and beta-glycan gene expression in the placental tissue of patients with pre-eclampsia

Abstract

The objective of this study was to quantify the relative expression of inhibin alpha, inhibin/activin beta(A), beta(B), beta(C), follistatin, activin receptors and beta-glycan genes in placental tissue of term pre-eclamptic patients and controls to investigate if these genes are up-regulated in the placenta in pre-eclampsia. Seven women with pre-eclampsia symptoms were matched with 10 normal pregnant controls for gestational age, maternal age, and parity. Total RNA was isolated from each sample. Complementary DNA samples produced by reverse transcription were used in the real time PCR to quantify the expression of inhibin alpha subunit, inhibin/activin beta(A), beta(B), beta(C) subunits, follistatin, ACTRIA, ACTRIB, ACTRIIA, ACTRIIB, beta-glycan and GAPDH genes. The ratio between the target and GAPDH expression was calculated to provide relative gene expression. Inhibin alpha:GAPDH and inhibin/activin beta(A): GAPDH ratios were significantly higher in placental tissue from women with pre-eclampsia (P = 0.04 and P = 0.01 respectively) compared with matched control placental gene expression. Placental samples from both groups expressed beta(B), beta(C), follistatin, activin receptors and beta-glycan genes. However, there was no significant difference in the relative expression of these genes between the groups. Increases in the placental expression of inhibin alpha and inhibin/activin beta(A) subunit genes could contribute to the rise in circulating levels of inhibin A and activin A in pre-eclampsia. The mechanism(s) involved in increased gene expression in pre-eclampsia is as yet unclear.

Expression of Inhibin/activin Subunits alpha (-α), beta A (-β A) and beta B (-β B) in Placental Tissue of Normal and Intrauterine Growth Restricted (IUGR) Pregnancies

“…Recently, levels of activin A and inhibin A were demonstrated to be significantly elevated in the blood circulation of women who have developed preeclampsia (Bersinger et al 2002;Muttukrishna et al 1997Muttukrishna et al , 2000. The expression of inhibin-a subunit, b A , b B and b C subunits, follistatin, betaglycan and activin receptor genes were demonstrated in placental tissue from both uncomplicated term pregnancies and term pregnancies with preeclampsia (Casagrandi et al 2003), supporting the results of elevated of inhibin A and activin A levels in maternal serum (Muttukrishna et al 2000) and placental homogenates (Bersinger et al 2002).…”

Immunohistochemical Labeling of the Inhibin/Activin βC Subunit in Normal Human Placental Tissue and Chorionic Carcinoma Cell Lines

“…However, this subunit has been detected in cells from several other organs, including normal or malignant prostate and ovarian, testicular, endometrial, and pituitary tissues (Loveland et al 1996;Mellor et al 2000;Gold et al 2004Gold et al ,2009Kimmich et al in press). The inhibin bC gene was detected in placental tissue from uncomplicated term pregnancies and pregnancies with preeclampsia (Casagrandi et al 2003). We have demonstrated the presence of the inhibin bC subunit at the transcriptional level and at the protein level in the normal human placenta.…”

Longitudinal analysis of maternal serum Follistatin concentration in normal pregnancy and preeclampsia

“…31,32 Furthermore, in a cross-sectional cohort study, Keelan et al 33 showed that serum levels of FST are increased in preeclamptic women compared to normotensive pregnant women. In contrast, Casagrandi et al 34 demonstrated that placental FST expression does not differ between preeclamptic women and normotensive pregnant women. The present longitudinal study demonstrates, for the first time, that serum FST significantly declines in preeclamptic women compared with normotensive pregnant women.…”