89. Placental oxidative stress, angiogenic factor and maternal endothelial function in pregnant women with normotensive fetal growth restriction

Abstract

Introduction Placental oxidative damage may increase the production of anti-angiogenic factors, resulting in maternal endothelial dysfunction in pregnant women with preeclampsia (PE). Endothelial dysfunction is observed in women with a history of normotensive fetal growth restriction (FGR). However, placental oxidative stress, angiogenic factors and maternal endothelial function in those women remain unclear. Objectives This study aimed to assess the relationship between placental oxidative stress, angiogenic factors and maternal endothelial function in pregnant women with normotensive FGR. Methods A total of 21 women with uncomplicated pregnancies, 17 women with early-onset preeclampsia (PE), 18 with late-onset PE, and 14 with normotensive FGR were evaluated. We measured to determine serum parameters of oxygen free radicals (d-ROMs), PlGF and sFlt-1 as maternal anti-angiogenic factor, placental oxidative DNA damage, and flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) as a marker of maternal endothelial function. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to measure the proportion of placental trophoblast cell nuclei staining positive for 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and redox factor-1(ref-1), which are markers of oxidative DNA damage. Results Maternal serum d-ROMs, sFlt-1 concentrations, and FMD did not significantly differ between control and normotensive FGR groups. The proportion of nuclei staining positive for 8-OHdG was significantly higher in the normotensive FGR group relative to the control group, but ref-1 were not significantly differences among all groups. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate that although placental oxidative DNA damage was observed in both women with PE and those with normotensive FGR, pregnant women with normotensive FGR show no increase in the concentrations of sFlt-1 and d-ROMs, or a decrease in FMD.