Placental expression of sFlt-1 and PlGF in early preeclampsia vs. early IUGR vs. age-matched healthy pregnancies

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate whether differences between early preeclampsia and early fetal growth restriction can be explained by differential placental expression patterns of sFlt-1, Flt-1, and PlGF. Methods: Placental tissues and maternal blood samples from six cases of preeclampsia, seven IUGR, and six age-matched controls were studied for mRNA and protein levels as well as protein localization and expression intensity. Results: Neither placental PlGF mRNA and protein expression nor placental villous trophoblast expression intensity of PlGF was altered by placental dysfunction. Conclusion: High sFlt-1 concentrations may account for diminished maternal serum PlGF levels.

KEYWORDS:

• sFlt-1/PlGF
• sFlt-1; PlGF
• preeclampsia
• intrauterine growth restriction

Acknowledgments

We are thankful for excellent technical assistance from Thomas Ziska, Kerstin Melchior, and Loreen Ehrlich from Charité-Virchow Clinic, Berlin, Germany.

Declaration of interest

S. Verlohren reports having received consulting fees from Roche Diagnostics, Thermo Fisher, Ferring and Novartis, lecture fees from Roche Diagnostics and Thermo Fisher, and grant support from Roche Diagnostics, Thermo Fisher and Novartis.

Supplemental material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.