title: Absolute and relative quantification of placenta-specific micrornas in maternal circulation with placental insufficiency-related complications.
abstract: Placental insufficiency-related complications are one of the leading causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. This study investigated the quantification of placenta-specific microRNAs (miRNAs) in the maternal circulation during gestation in a cohort of women with normally progressing pregnancies, the differentiation between placental insufficiency-related complications and normally progressing pregnancies, and the differentiation between placental insufficiency and normally progressing pregnancies during the early stages of gestation. Both absolute and relative quantification of placenta-specific miRNAs (ie, miR-516-5p, miR-517*, miR-518b, miR-520a*, miR-520h, miR-525, and miR-526a) was determined in 50 women with normally progressing pregnancies, 32 with complicated pregnancies [21 with preeclampsia with or without intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and 11 with IUGR], and 7 women with pregnancies at various gestational stages who later developed preeclampsia and/or IUGR using real-time PCR and a comparative C(T) method relative to normalization factor (ie, geometric mean of ubiquitous miR-16 and let-7d). Both quantification approaches revealed significant increases in extracellular placenta-specific miRNA levels over time in women with normally progressing pregnancies; however, they were not able to differentiate between normally progressing and complicated pregnancies at the time of preeclampsia and/or IUGR onset. Nevertheless, significant elevation of extracellular miRNA levels was observed during early gestation (ie, within the 12th to 16th weeks) in pregnancies with later onset of preeclampsia and/or IUGR. Early gestation extracellular miRNA screening can differentiate between women with normally progressing pregnancies and those who may later develop placental insufficiency-related complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Cell Pathology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. ilona.hromadnikova@lf3.cuni.cz
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hromadnikova
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kotlabova
authors.forename: Jindrich
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Doucha
authors.forename: Klara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dlouha
authors.forename: Ladislav
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Krofta
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D010927:Placental Insufficiency / Q000235:genetics*; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs