Li Zixiong, Tao Maliang, Huang Mei, Pan Weilun, Huang Qiuyu, Wang Pingping, Zhang Ye, Situ Bo, Zheng Lei
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Center for Clinical Laboratory, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510280, China.
Clin Chim Acta. 2023 Jan 15;539:266-273. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2022.12.021. Epub 2022 Dec 30.
The nano-sized, lipid bilayer-delimited placental extracellular vesicles (PEVs) released by the placenta are now regarded as important mediators involved in various physiological and pathological processes of pregnant women. The number and contents of PEVs are significantly altered in preeclampsia and are considered as potential biomarkers. However, the distribution pattern of PEVs in the maternal circulation in different pregnancy status is still unclear for the limitation of the traditional method with low sensitivity.
In this work, we recruited 561 pregnant women with different pregnancy status and investigated the distribution pattern of PEVs in the maternal circulation based on a single extracellular vesicle analysis method and placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), a placenta-specific marker.
The concentration of PEVs in pregnant women increased with the progression of gestational age, while the ratio of PEVs decreased to about 10% in the third trimester. Surprisingly, the PLAP EVs also presented in the plasma of non-pregnant women and normal male about 5%. The change in the ratio of PEVs can reflect the pregnancy status and also had a better diagnostic value in severe preeclampsia (AUC = 0.7811).
Our study not only reveals the distribution pattern of PEVs, but also identifies the diagnostic potential of PEVs as biomarkers.
胎盘释放的纳米级脂质双分子层包裹的胎盘细胞外囊泡（PEV）现被视为参与孕妇各种生理和病理过程的重要介质。子痫前期患者的PEV数量和内容物会发生显著变化，被认为是潜在的生物标志物。然而，由于传统方法灵敏度低，不同妊娠状态下母体循环中PEV的分布模式仍不清楚。
在本研究中，我们招募了561名处于不同妊娠状态的孕妇，并基于单细胞外囊泡分析方法和胎盘特异性标志物胎盘碱性磷酸酶（PLAP），研究了母体循环中PEV的分布模式。
孕妇体内PEV的浓度随着孕周的增加而升高，而在孕晚期PEV的比例降至约10%。令人惊讶的是，非孕妇和正常男性的血浆中也存在约5%的PLAP EV。PEV比例的变化可以反映妊娠状态，并且在重度子痫前期中具有更好的诊断价值（AUC = 0.7811）。
我们的研究不仅揭示了PEV的分布模式，还确定了PEV作为生物标志物的诊断潜力。
