Placental Gene Expression in Women with Excessive Gestational Weight Gain.

Excessive gestational weight gain (EGWG) promotes adverse physiological and molecular changes in the placenta. In the present study, we examined the whole placental transcriptomic profile in women with EGWG to elucidate the molecular basis of EGWG pathogenesis. Whole transcriptome profile was analyzed in placentas from term patients with EGWG compared to controls using RNA-seq. Eight genes were found to be downregulated, and 318 genes were found to be upregulated in the placentas of the EGWG group in comparison with those of the women with adequate gestational weight gain (AGWG). Analysis of differentially expressed genes showed eight biological processes, nine cellular components, and ten molecular functions activated, and ten biological processes, ten cellular components, and ten molecular functions suppressed in the placentas from women with EGWG compared to AGWG. EGWG is characterized by significant alterations in placental gene expression, impacting various biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions, including activation of chromatin organization and remodeling, nucleoplasm, and histone-modifying activity, and suppression of response to stimulus, organelle, and protein binding.