title: Rapid clearance of mRNA for PLAC1 gene in maternal blood after delivery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate (1) whether the presence of mRNA for the specific trophoblast gene PLAC1 in maternal whole blood is pregnancy-specific, and (2) whether delivery would result in the clearance of mRNA from maternal blood.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixteen pregnant women at term (41 completed weeks' gestation) were enrolled in the study. Blood samples were obtained before the onset of labor and 24 h after delivery. Eight healthy donors (3 males and 5 non-pregnant women) were used as controls. Total RNA was extracted by means of ABI Prism 6100. A quantitative evaluation was obtained by means of real-time PCR. Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate differences between time intervals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median concentrations of PLAC1 mRNA relative to the standardization curve (see below) were 44 (2.9-675) ng/ml and 0.48 (0.05-10.7) ng/ml respectively for pre- and post-delivery samples (p value <0.001). Male and non-pregnant female controls did not show any signal of cDNA amplification.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  mRNA transcripts from a placenta-expressed specific gene are detectable in maternal blood and rapidly disappear after delivery. Such an mRNA provides a gender-independent marker for non-invasive prenatal gene expression profiling, and can open new perspectives to monitor those conditions associated to trophoblast damage as well as preeclampsia.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Histology and Human Embryology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Concu
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Banzola
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farina
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sekizawa
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marini
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Caramelli
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carinci
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: C415583:PLAC1 protein, human; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger