Li Mo, Jia Yifan, Ling Yan, Chen Yilu, Zhang Lu, Luo Dan, Lai Lidan, Guo Meijun, Zhang Dalei, Ren Min, Xu Hong, Kuang Haibin
Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Reproductive Physiology and Pathology, Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, P.R. China.
Department of Clinical Medicine, School of Queen Mary, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330006, P.R. China.
Mol Med Rep. 2017 Jul;16(1):367-372. doi: 10.3892/mmr.2017.6599. Epub 2017 May 18.
Expression and function of the follicle‑stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) are traditionally thought to be limited to the ovary in females. However, recent studies have indicated that the FSHR is also expressed in endothelial cells of the placental vasculature, and that the haploinsufficiency of the feto‑placental FSHR impaired the growth of the mouse placenta. The aim of the current study was to investigate the placental expression of FSH and FSHR in pregnancies complicated by pre‑eclampsia. Placental tissue samples were collected from 20 pregnancies with pre‑eclampsia and 25 normal pregnancies. Placental FSH and FSHR mRNA levels were measured by reverse transcription‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‑qPCR), while FSH, FSHR and CD31 protein expression were examined by immunohistochemistry. Additionally, levels of serum FSH were measured by chemical luminescence immunity assay. The results demonstrated that no significant difference was observed in serum FSH levels and expression levels of placental FSH mRNA and protein between normal pregnancy and pre‑eclampsia. However, RT‑qPCR results indicated that the expression level of FSHR mRNA in pre‑eclamptic placental samples was significantly lower than normal pregnancies. Immunostaining results from normal pregnant samples indicated that the FSHR protein was strongly expressed in the endothelial cells of blood vessels in the chorionic villi, moderately expressed in stromal cells of the villus, but not expressed in trophoblast cells of the term placenta. The staining intensity of FSHR‑positive area was significantly lower in the placental villi of pre‑eclampsia, when compared with the normal control group. In conclusion, expression levels of placental FSHR mRNA and protein are significantly reduced in pregnancies complicated with pre‑eclampsia in the present study. Further studies may investigate whether FSHR could be used as a biomarker for the prediction of pre‑eclampsia.
传统上认为，促卵泡激素受体（FSHR）的表达和功能仅限于雌性动物的卵巢。然而，最近的研究表明，FSHR也表达于胎盘血管的内皮细胞中，并且胎儿-胎盘FSHR的单倍体不足会损害小鼠胎盘的生长。本研究的目的是调查子痫前期合并妊娠中FSH和FSHR的胎盘表达情况。收集了20例子痫前期妊娠和25例正常妊娠的胎盘组织样本。通过逆转录-定量聚合酶链反应（RT-qPCR）检测胎盘FSH和FSHR mRNA水平，同时通过免疫组织化学检测FSH、FSHR和CD31蛋白表达。此外，通过化学发光免疫分析法检测血清FSH水平。结果表明，正常妊娠和子痫前期之间血清FSH水平以及胎盘FSH mRNA和蛋白表达水平均未观察到显著差异。然而，RT-qPCR结果表明，子痫前期胎盘样本中FSHR mRNA的表达水平显著低于正常妊娠。正常妊娠样本的免疫染色结果表明，FSHR蛋白在绒毛膜绒毛血管的内皮细胞中强烈表达，在绒毛基质细胞中中度表达，但在足月胎盘的滋养层细胞中不表达。与正常对照组相比，子痫前期胎盘绒毛中FSHR阳性区域的染色强度显著降低。总之，在本研究中，子痫前期合并妊娠时胎盘FSHR mRNA和蛋白的表达水平显著降低。进一步的研究可以探讨FSHR是否可作为预测子痫前期的生物标志物。
