Research On The Relationship Between Platelet-derived Growth Factors And Hypertensive Disorder Complication Pregnancy

Objective: To compare the expression of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) -A, -B, -C and -D in the placentas and serum PDGF-AA and -BB from patients with hypertensive disorder complication pregnancy with those from normal pregnant women so as to explore the relationship between PDGFs and the pathogenesy of hypertensive disorder complication pregnancy. Methods: From August 2005 to June 2006, 43 patients with hypertensive disorder complication pregnancy were selected in our study. Another 20 age- and gestational week-matched normal pregnant women served as controls. Reverse transcription -polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were applied to determine the mRNA expression levels of PDGF-A, -B, -C and -D in the placentas from the 4 groups; Meanwhile, the serum levels of PDGF-AA and -BB as well as their expression in the placentas from the 4 groups were determined with immunohistochemistry and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. Results: 1)RT-PCR showed that all subjects expressed PDGF-A, -B, -C and -D in the placentas, while the mRNA expression levels of the four kinds of PDGFs in the patients with hypertensive disorder complication pregnancy were significantly higher than those in the normal pregnancy group(P all<0.01), and were positively correlated with the degree of the disease (2) Compared with the normal pregnancy group, significantly higher expression levels of PDGF-AA and -BB were observed in the placentas of patients with hypertensive disorder complication pregnancy by immunohistochemistry (P all<0.01), and were positively correlated with the degree of the disease. (3) ELISA showed the serum levels of PDGF-AA and -BB in the patients with hypertensive disorder complication pregnancy were significantly higher than those in the normal pregnancy group(P all<0.01), and were positively correlated with the degree of the disease. Conclusions: (1) PDGF-A, -B, -C and–D express in the placentas of both patients with hypertensive disorder complication pregnancy and normal pregnant women, which shows that PDGFs may be necessary cytokines for normal pregnancy. (2) Patients with hypertensive disorder complication pregnancy have higher expression levels of PDGF-A, -B, -C and–D than normal pregnant women, with the expression levels positively correlated with the degree of the disease, which shows PDGFs play an important role in the development and progression of hypertensive disorder complication pregnancy by promoting atherogenesis in the placental vessels.