Placenta
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Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a serious complication of pregnancy, and the likely pathogenic basis of early onset PE are placental dysfunction and increased oxidative stress. Resveratrol (RES) is a potent antioxidant which has shown beneficial effects in many diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of RES against oxidative stress-induced damage in trophoblasts, and elucidate the potential mechanisms. ⋯ RES may protect human trophoblasts against H2O2-induced oxidative stress by activating SIRT1-dependent autophagy, and therefore has therapeutic potential in PE.
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We previously reported blood oxygen level dependent MRI (BOLD-MRI) for monitoring placental and fetal hemodynamic changes in mice following maternal hypercapnia. Here we use BOLD-MRI to compare the placental and fetal hemodynamic effects of different maternal vasopressors in mice. ⋯ Phenylephrine induced BOLD-MRI-SI changes suggestive of placental and fetal hypoperfusion with brain sparing. Ephedrine induced BOLD-MRI-SI changes suggestive of increased cardiac output; we speculate that reduced fetal heart BOLD-MRI-SI may be due to increased fetal myocardial oxygen extraction or metabolic acidosis. The result demonstrates the potential of BOLD-MRI as a non-invasive hemodynamic tool for assessing pharmacodynamics effects in the placental and fetus.
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Non-invasive assessment of placental perfusion is of great interest to characterize placental function in clinical practice. This article proposes a strictly non-invasive MRI technique using ASL to quantify placental blood flow in vivo. The aim of this study was to develop a fMRI tool to quantify placental blood flow (PBF) in rat, by using arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI at 4.7 T. ⋯ ASL MRI is feasible for the quantification of PBF in rats at 4.7 T. This technique, which requires no administration of contrast media, could have implications for non-invasive longitudinal and in vivo animal studies and may be useful for the management of human pregnancies.
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To evaluate the association between subclinical and clinical chorioamnionitis and risk of preterm birth (PTB). ⋯ Subclinical chorioamnionitis and histologic chorioamnionitis with fetal vasculitis were associated with early PTB and PTB with PROM but not with PTB overall, likely due to inclusion of indicated PTBs.
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Autophagy increases in placenta-related obstetrical diseases such as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth retardation but the regulation of autophagy by ubiquitin proteasome pathway (UPP) proteins, p97/Valosin containing protein (VCP) and ubiquitin (Ub) have not been previuosly studied in preeclampsia. The objective of this study is to investigate the expression of UPP (p97/VCP and Ub), autophagosomal (p62 and LC3) and autolysosomal proteins (Lamp1 and Lamp2) in the normal and preeclamptic human placentas and to explore the regulatory mechanism of these proteins in autophagic pathway. ⋯ Decreased expression of p97/VCP and increased expression of Ub in preeclampsia might be related to impaired autophagy and pathophysiology of preeclampsia. Therefore, our study highlights an important potential relationship between p97/VCP and autophagic proteins in preeclampsia.