Clinical and laboratory assessment of the state of placental mitochondria in severe preeclampsia

Objective. To investigate clinico-anamnestic and comprehensive studies of the placental mitochondrial apparatus in early- and late-onset severe preelampsia (PE). Subjects and methods. The investigation enrolled 90 women aged 18-43 years, including 30 with early-onset severe preeclampsia (Group 1), 30 with late-onset severe preeclampsia (Group 2) and 30 somatically healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancy (Group 3). The investigators carried out a comparative analysis of the clinical and anamnestic characteristics of the patients, as well as the relative expression levels of the proteins VDAC1, MT-ND5, and AТР8 in placental tissue by Western blotting. Results. Medical histories in Group 1 women more frequently showed antenatal fetal death (23 %) and preeclampsia (40%) than in Group 2 (3 and 13%, respectively; p<0.05). In Group 2, hypertension and proteinuria occurred much later at 33.43±6.48 and 36.83±1.37 weeks’ gestation, respectively. The delivery time was 31.54±3.15, 37.95±1.23, and 39.25±0.72 weeks in Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In Group 1, babies were born preterm in 100% of cases. Analysis of the expression of mitochondrial proteins revealed a significant increase in the level of MT-ND5, the subunit of respiratory chain NADH dehydrogenase ((Complex I) in a group of women with early-onset PE. The study and control groups showed no difference in the expression of VDAC1 and ATP8. Conclusion. The findings suggest that placental mitochondria contribute to the development of oxidative stress that is more pronounced in early-onsetpreeclampsia.

preeclampsia, mitochondrial respiration, oxidative stress