Expression of plasma nuclear factor-kappa B cells (NF-κB) and Inhibitory subunit kappa B alpha (IκB-α) in HIV-associated pre-eclampsia

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the expression of plasma NF-κB and the inhibitory subunit IκB-α in HIV-associated pre-eclampsia.

Method: This retrospective study examined plasma NF-κB and IκB-α expression expressed as Mean Fluorescence Intensity (MFI) in normotensive (n = 32) and pre-eclamptic (n = 34) pregnant women stratified by HIV status.

Results: A significant decrease in the level of plasma NF-κB expression between pre-eclamptic and normotensive pregnant women was observed, irrespective of HIV status (MFI = 82.8 vs 134.3; p = 0.03). Similarly, a significant decline in the level of plasma IκB-α expression was noted in the pre-eclamptic compared to normotensive pregnant women, irrespective of HIV status (MFI = 91.2 vs 120.1; p = 0.04). Plasma NF-κB (p = 0.7) and IκB-α (p = 0.8) expression was similar between HIV positive and HIV negative pregnant women, irrespective of pregnancy type.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates decreased plasma NF-κB and IκB-α expression in preeclampsia compared to normotensive pregnant women irrespective of HIV status.

KEYWORDS:

• NF-κB
• iκb-α
• pre-eclampsia
• HIV

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the College of Health Sciences, the University of KwaZulu-Natal for their financial support as well as the institutional biostatistician Dr. C Connolly and Ms. S. Ramdin from the Durban University of Technology for statistical support.

Disclosure statement

We declare no conflict of interest.