title: Ultrastructural study on human placentae from women subjected to assisted reproductive technology treatments.
abstract: This study compared the ultrastructural differences of term placentae from human pregnancies resulting from assisted reproductive technology (ART) with term placentae from spontaneous human pregnancies. Term placentae were taken from women who had undergone an ART procedure (n = 8) and matched with term placentae from women who had had a spontaneous pregnancy (controls, n = 15). Using light microscopy (LM) and transmission-electron microscopy (TEM), terminal villi were evaluated with respect to the placental blood barrier, fetal capillaries, villous stroma, as well as cytotrophoblasts and syncytiotrophoblasts (ST) along with their substructures. No obvious differences were found between the ART-derived and control placentae when LM was used. With TEM, however, differences in the ultrastructural features were seen in the ART-derived placentae, specifically degenerative alterations of the terminal villi, mainly in ST, including a thicker placental barrier, decreased apical microvilli, and increased multiple vacuoles. The results demonstrate that some ultrastructural differences exist between ART-derived and control placentae with respect to the placental blood barrier, which may suggest maternofetal traffic downregulation following ART treatment. Further studies are required to understand the ultrastructural changes and their potential functional aspects in ART pregnancies.
authors.affiliation: Center of Clinical Reproductive Medicine and State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wene
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yaqin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Ruyang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chanjuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Haijun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Yugui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Zuomin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jiahao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sha
authors.forename: Jiayin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D010920:Placenta / Q000098:blood supply / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D011247:Pregnancy; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted / Q000009:adverse effects*; D055815:Young Adult