Plasma adiponectin concentrations and placental adiponectin expression in pre-eclamptic women.
This study was conducted to compare maternal plasma adiponectin concentrations and adiponectin expression in term placentas between normotensive pregnant women and pre-eclamptic women. Plasma adiponectin concentrations were assessed by a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 81 normotensive pregnant women, 27 pre-eclamptic women and 15 non-pregnant healthy women. The expression of adiponectin in the placentas was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Plasma adiponectin concentrations in normotensive pregnant women did not show a significant change during pregnancy and postpartum compared with non-pregnant women. However, plasma adiponectin concentrations in pre-eclamptic women were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than in non-pregnant and normotensive pregnant women. No immunoreactive adiponectin was detected in the term placentas of normotensive pregnant women, whereas a positive immunostaining for adiponectin was observed in endothelial cells of chorionic vessels in pre-eclamptic women. Our data suggest that decreased plasma adiponectin concentrations may contribute to the pathophysiology of pre-eclampsia and that adiponectin localized in chorionic vessels may play a role in the restoring of endothelial damage in the feto-maternal units of pre-eclampsia.
Ichida
Kotaro
K
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan.
Moriyama
Toshitake
T
Morita
Hiroki
H
Kondo
Takeshi
T
Yoshida
Shigeki
S
Ohara
Noriyuki
N
Maruo
Takeshi
T
D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011264:Pregnancy Trimesters / Q000378:metabolism
D052242:Adiponectin