Department of Nephrology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
Department of Gynaecology and Obstetric, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
J Hum Hypertens. 2018 Nov;32(11):759-769. doi: 10.1038/s41371-018-0083-9. Epub 2018 Jul 10.
The aims of this study are to explore the correlation between the expressions of urotensin II (UII) and autophagic markers (LC3 and P62) in patients with severe preeclampsia (SPE). A total of 64 pregnant subjects were recruited, including 29 healthy pregnancies and 35 preeclamptic patients (7 mild preeclamptic (MPE) patients and 28 SPE patients). UII and autophagic markers expression in placenta specimens was investigated by immunohistochemistry (IHC), RT-qPCR, and western blot. IHC analysis manifested that the expressions of UII and autophagic markers were mainly located in the placental cytotrophoblast and syncytiotrophoblast. Western blot and IHC analysis both indicated that the expression of UII was significantly correlated with autophagic marker LC3II (by western blot) or LC3 (by IHC) (r = 0.495, P = 0.010; r = 0.816, P = 0.007). Moreover, SPE group had higher expression of UII and LC3II, lower expression of P62 than that of normal controls. The expression of LC3II was positively related with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and urinary protein level (SBP (r = 0.501, P = 0.003) and urine protein quantitation (r = 0.509, P = 0.022)), whereas P62 had negative correlation with SBP. We first verify that UII has positive correlation with autophagic marker LC3 in placentas of preeclampsia patients; besides, autophagic levels are positively correlated with SBP and urine protein in patients with SPE.
本研究旨在探讨在重度子痫前期（SPE）患者中，尿皮质素 II（UII）与自噬标志物（LC3 和 P62）表达的相关性。共纳入 64 例妊娠妇女，其中 29 例为健康妊娠，35 例为子痫前期患者（7 例轻度子痫前期（MPE）患者和 28 例 SPE 患者）。通过免疫组化（IHC）、RT-qPCR 和 Western blot 检测胎盘标本中 UII 和自噬标志物的表达。IHC 分析显示，UII 和自噬标志物的表达主要位于胎盘细胞滋养层和合体滋养层。Western blot 和 IHC 分析均表明，UII 的表达与自噬标志物 LC3II（通过 Western blot）或 LC3（通过 IHC）呈显著正相关（r=0.495，P=0.010；r=0.816，P=0.007）。此外，SPE 组 UII 和 LC3II 的表达高于正常对照组，P62 的表达低于正常对照组。LC3II 的表达与收缩压（SBP）和尿蛋白水平呈正相关（SBP（r=0.501，P=0.003）和尿蛋白定量（r=0.509，P=0.022）），而 P62 与 SBP 呈负相关。我们首次验证了 UII 与子痫前期患者胎盘的自噬标志物 LC3 呈正相关；此外，自噬水平与 SPE 患者的 SBP 和尿蛋白呈正相关。
