title: Placental morphology in pregnancies associated with pregravid obesity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pre-gravid obesity is associated with increased morbidity and mortality for both mother and offspring. We aimed to investigate the changes in placental structure and to characterize the placental inflammatory status in obese women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Placentas from 10 women with pregravid body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m(2) were analyzed histopathologically and compared with those from 10 normal weight women. The effect of pregravid obesity on placental structure was investigated by examining placental maturity, angiogenesis, inflammatory response, and vascular abnormalities. Hematoxylin and eosin stain, immunohistochemical analysis, and morphometric analysis were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Immaturity of the villous tree was demonstrated more often in the pregravid obesity group (p = 0.005). The villous tree was mainly represented by villi of larger diameter (p = 0.001) and lower number (p = 0.023) compared with controls. By contrast, the number of capillaries per villus was increased in the obese group (p = 0.001), while the global number of capillaries per surface unit did not differ in the studied groups (p = 1). There was no difference between the pre-gravid obese group and controls in inflammatory status and vascular pathology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pregravid obesity is associated with focal immaturity of the villous tree and angiogenetic abnormalities of the placenta.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and.|b Department of Pathology , University of Brescia , Brescia , Italy , and.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Loardi
authors.affiliation: b Department of Pathology , University of Brescia , Brescia , Italy , and.
authors.forename: Marcella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Falchetti
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Prefumo
authors.affiliation: b Department of Pathology , University of Brescia , Brescia , Italy , and.
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Facchetti
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and.|c Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology , University of Parma , Parma , Italy.
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Frusca
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002196:Capillaries / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002585:Cesarean Section; D002824:Chorionic Villi / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000473:pathology; D009765:Obesity / Q000473:pathology*; D010920:Placenta / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000473:pathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies
keywords: Angiogenesis; immunohistochemistry; inflammation; placenta; pregravid obesity; villous tree