title: Placental expression of a novel primate-specific splice variant of sFlt-1 is upregulated in pregnancies complicated by severe early onset pre-eclampsia.
abstract: sFlt-1 is increased in the placenta and serum of women with pre-eclampsia. A novel primate-specific splice variant has recently been discovered, but its expression in severe pre-eclampsia has yet to be reported. We investigated placental expression of the previously described variant, sFlt-1/sFlt-i13, and the novel variant, sFlt-e15a, in pregnancies complicated by severe early onset pre-eclampsia (n = 14) and HELLP (haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and a low platelet count) syndrome (n = 8). There was significant upregulation of both variants in pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome compared with normotensive term (n = 35) and preterm controls (n = 8). We conclude that the novel primate-specific splice variant of sFlt-1 is highly expressed in both severe pre-eclampsia and HELLP.
authors.affiliation: Translational Obstetrics Group, The Ritchie Centre, Monash Institute of Medical Research, Monash University, Clayton, Vic., Australia.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Saglam
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lappas
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D017359:HELLP Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D010920:Placenta / Q000737:chemistry*; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D015854:Up-Regulation; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; C501162:FLT1 protein, human; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1