[Clinical significance of hypoxia inducible factor-prolyl hydroxylase 1 and factor inhibiting hypoxia inducible factor-1 expression in placentas of women with severe pre-eclampsia].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the role of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-prolyl hydroxylase 1 (HPH1) and factor inhibiting HIF-1 (FIH-1) in placentas in the pathogenesis and development of severe pre-eclampsia.

METHODS

RT-PCR and western blot analyses were used to detect the HPH1 and FIH-1 expression levels in placentas of 34 patients with severe pre-eclampsia and 24 cases of term pregnancy (normal pregnancy group) and their correlations with symptoms were analyzed.

RESULTS

(1) The HPH1 mRNA and protein expression levels in placentas of severe pre-eclampsia group were 0.40 +/- 0.04 and 59.5 +/- 3.4 separately, significantly lower than those of normal pregnancy group, 0.84 +/- 0.12 and 71.6 +/- 1.7 (P < 0.01). The FIH-1 mRNA and protein expression levels in placentas of severe pre-eclampsia group were 0.31 +/- 0.05 and 45.6 +/- 2.4 separately, significantly lower than those of normal pregnancy group, 0.43 +/- 0.04 and 54.9 +/- 2.1 (P < 0.01). (2) The mRNA and protein expression levels of HPH1 and FIH-1 in severe pre-eclampsia group were all negatively correlated with mean arterial pressure (MAP) [the Spearman correlation coefficient was -0.854 (P < 0.01)], urinary protein per 24 hours [the Spearman correlation coefficient was -0.936 (P < 0.01)] and the occurrence of fundus oculi artery spasm [the Spearman correlation coefficient was -0.854 (P < 0.01)]. (3) The expression of HPH1 mRNA in placentas of all the 58 cases was 0.58 +/- 0.27, higher than the expression of FIH-1 mRNA, which was 0.39 +/- 0.10. There was a positive correlation between them. The pearson correlation coefficient was 0.686 (P < 0.01). The expression of HPH1 protein in placentas of all the 58 cases was 64.5 +/- 6.7, higher than the expression of FIH-1, which was 49.4 +/- 5.2. There was a positive correlation between them. The Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.947 (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

The expression imbalance of HPH1 and FIH-1 in placenta may play an important role in the pathogenesis and development of severe pre-eclampsia through inhibiting HIF-1alpha.