Ki-67 Expression Level in placentas with COVID-19 Infected Women

Abstract

Objective: The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, spread very quickly in a short time and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. Physiological and immunological changes during pregnancy cause complications in respiratory tract infections. Complications by COVID-19 lead to a systemic effect that causes maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity. In this study, we aimed to investigate histopathological changes and Ki-67 expression in placentas of women with positive COVID-19 infection.
 Study Design: Placentas of 10 samples COVID-19 positive and 10 samples Covid-19 negative pregnant patients who were hospitalized in the Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic of Dicle University Faculty of Medicine were included in the study. Placental tissues were fixed in 10% formaldehyde (24 hours) and processed for routine paraffin wax tissue staining. Hematoxylin Eosin dye and Ki-67 immunohistochemical staining were performed.
 Results: Decidual cell degeneration, increased numbers of syncytial nodes, dilatation in vessels, degenerated villi were observed in the placentas of COVID-19 positive pregnant women. COVID-19 damage regular histology of placental structures. Ki-67 expression was intensely increased in COVID-19 positive placentas compared to COVID-19 negative placentas.
 Conclusion: We suggest that COVID-19 causes some abnormalities in the histology of placentas and cell death, which leads to new cell proliferation.
 Keywords: COVID-19, placenta, villi, Ki-67, histopathology