Expression levels of urotensin II are associated with endoplasmic reticulum stress in patients with severe preeclampsia

Prenatal exposure to triphenyl phosphate activated PPARγ in placental trophoblasts and impaired pregnancy outcomes

The health risks of triphenyl phosphate (TPhP) have increased since its widespread application. Using placental trophoblast cell line JEG-3, we demonstrated that TPhP could induce endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) and cell apoptosis through PPARγ-mediated lipid metabolism. However, the developmental toxicity of TPhP through the placenta is not known. In this study, prenatal TPhP exposure to mice was investigated. Pregnant mice were orally exposed to TPhP (1 and 5 mg/kg) from embryonic day 0 (E0) until delivery. The results showed that TPhP could accumulate in placenta and impair pregnancy outcomes. After exposure, at E18, placental hormone chorionic gonadotrophin and testosterone levels were significantly decreased, but progesterone and estradiol levels were significantly increased, and placental angiogenesis was activated in the low-dose exposure group. While, in the high-dose exposure group, only estradiol levels were significantly increased. Different with the effect on hormone level or angiogenesis, TPhP significantly increased PPARγ and its regulated lipid transport proteins FABP, FATP, and CD36, and induced lipid accumulation in placental trophoblasts of both low- and high-exposure group. RNA-seq analysis of the placenta identified differentially expressed genes that were mainly involved in the ERS and MAPK signaling pathways. Western blot analysis verified that the protein levels related to ERS stress and apoptosis were significantly increased. To further confirm the role of PPARγ in TPhP mediated placental toxicity, pregnant mice were orally exposed to TPhP (1 mg/kg) or TPhP (1 mg/kg) + GW9662 (PPARγ inhibitor, 2 mg/kg) from E0 until delivery. The results showed that GW9662 could ameliorate the effect of TPhP on placental lipid accumulation, ERS and cell apoptosis, suggesting that PPARγ mediated the placental toxicity of TPhP. Overall, our results indicated that prenatal TPhP exposure impaired pregnancy outcomes, at least partly through PPARγ regulated function of trophoblast.

Expression of urotensin II is positively correlated with pyroptosis-related molecules in patients with severe preeclampsia

Purpose: We studied the expression of urotensin II (UII) and its relationships with markers of pyroptosis in preeclampsia. Methods: 48 pregnant subjects were recruited consisting of 28 severe preeclampsia pregnancies (SPE) and 20 healthy pregnancies. We detected expressions of UII and markers of pyroptosis such as NLR-family pyrin domain (PYD)-containing 3 (NLRP-3), caspase-1/4/5, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and gasdermin D (GSDMD) in placentas of patients with SPE and healthy pregnancies. Results: SPE group have higher expression of UII and NLRP-3, caspase-1, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and GSDMD than that normal controls by IHC, real-time PCR, and western blot. IHC analysis manifests that the expressions of UII and pyroptosis-related molecules are mainly located in the placental cytotrophoblasts. Expressions of UII mRNA and protein are significantly positively correlated with pyroptosis marker such as NLRP3, caspase-1, GSDMD mRNA and protein by Pearson correlation analysis. Moreover, UII, NLRP-3, caspase-1, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and GSDMD are positively related with systolic blood pressure, meanwhile caspase-1 and GSDMD are positively correlated with urine protein in SPE patients. We firstly verify that UII has a positive correlation with pyroptosis markers in placentas of preeclampsia patients; besides, pyroptosis-related proteins are positively correlated with systolic blood pressure and urine protein in patients with severe preeclampsia.

Urotensin 2 and Oxidative Stress Levels in Maternal Serum in Pregnancies Complicated by Intrauterine Growth Restriction

Background and objectives: In this study, the aim was to investigate Urotensin 2 (U-II) levels and oxidant/antioxidant system parameters in pregnancies with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Materials and Methods: A total of 36 healthy, pregnant women who had not been diagnosed with IUGR and 36 pregnant women who had been diagnosed with IUGR at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Outpatient Clinic at Gaziantep University Hospital were enrolled in this study. The serum total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), thiol-disulfide levels, U-II measurements, and oxidative stress index (OSI) calculations were carried out at the biochemistry laboratory at Gaziantep University. Results: According to this study, there was no statistically significant difference between the group with IUGR and the control group of healthy, pregnant women in terms of total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), oxidative stress index (OSI), native thiol, total thiol, disulfide, disulfide/native thiol, disulfide/total thiol, native thiol/total thiol, and U-II values. There was, however, a positive linear correlation between TOS and total thiol levels in the group with IUGR (p = 0.021, r = 0.384), and a positive linear correlation between OSI and total thiol values in the control group (p = 0.049, r = 0.330). In addition, there was a negative correlation between disulfide levels and gestational weeks at birth in the group with IUGR (p = 0.027, r = 0.369). Conclusions: Consequently, there was no significant difference between the control group and the group with pregnancies complicated by idiopathic IUGR in terms of serum oxidant/antioxidant system parameters and U-II levels. It is necessary to conduct more extensive studies evaluating placental, maternal, and fetal oxidative stress in conjunction in order to investigate the role of oxidative stress in IUGR.

A Pilot Study Using a Multistaged Integrated Analysis of Gene Expression and Methylation to Evaluate Mechanisms for Evening Fatigue in Women Who Received Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer

CONTEXT

Fatigue is the most common symptom associated with cancer and its treatment. Investigation of molecular mechanisms associated with fatigue may identify new therapeutic targets.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the relationships between gene expression and methylation status and evening fatigue severity in women with breast cancer who received chemotherapy.

METHODS

Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify evening fatigue phenotypes. In this analysis, the lowest (i.e., moderate, n = 7) and highest (i.e., very high, n = 29) fatigue-severity classes identified using LCA were analyzed via two stages. First, a total of 32,609 transcripts from whole blood were evaluated for differences in expression levels between the classes. Next, 637 methylation sites located within the putative transcription factor binding sites for those genes demonstrating differential expression were evaluated for differential methylation state between the classes.

RESULTS

A total of 89 transcripts in 75 unique genes were differentially expressed between the moderate (the lowest fatigue-severity class identified) and very high evening fatigue classes. In addition, 23 differentially methylated probes and three differentially methylated regions were found between the moderate and very high evening fatigue classes.

CONCLUSIONS

Using a multistaged integrated analysis of gene expression and methylation, differential methylation was identified in the regulatory regions of genes associated with previously hypothesized mechanisms for fatigue, including inflammation, immune function, neurotransmission, circadian rhythm, skeletal muscle energy, carbohydrate metabolism, and renal function as well as core biological processes including gene transcription and the cell-cycle regulation.

Expression of urotensin II is associated with placental autophagy in patients with severe preeclampsia

The aims of this study are to explore the correlation between the expressions of urotensin II (UII) and autophagic markers (LC3 and P62) in patients with severe preeclampsia (SPE). A total of 64 pregnant subjects were recruited, including 29 healthy pregnancies and 35 preeclamptic patients (7 mild preeclamptic (MPE) patients and 28 SPE patients). UII and autophagic markers expression in placenta specimens was investigated by immunohistochemistry (IHC), RT-qPCR, and western blot. IHC analysis manifested that the expressions of UII and autophagic markers were mainly located in the placental cytotrophoblast and syncytiotrophoblast. Western blot and IHC analysis both indicated that the expression of UII was significantly correlated with autophagic marker LC3II (by western blot) or LC3 (by IHC) (r = 0.495, P = 0.010; r = 0.816, P = 0.007). Moreover, SPE group had higher expression of UII and LC3II, lower expression of P62 than that of normal controls. The expression of LC3II was positively related with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and urinary protein level (SBP (r = 0.501, P = 0.003) and urine protein quantitation (r = 0.509, P = 0.022)), whereas P62 had negative correlation with SBP. We first verify that UII has positive correlation with autophagic marker LC3 in placentas of preeclampsia patients; besides, autophagic levels are positively correlated with SBP and urine protein in patients with SPE.

Expressions of irisin and urotensin II and their relationships with blood pressure in patients with preeclampsia

The aims of this study are to observe irisin and urotensin II (UII) levels in serum and placenta in normal pregnant and preeclamptic women and investigate the relationship between expressions irisin and UII, and their association with blood pressure. A total of 67 pregnant subjects were recruited, including 31 healthy and 36 preeclamptic pregnant women. Serum irisin and UII concentrations were measured. Expressions of fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5 (FNDC5) (irisin precursor) and UII in placenta specimens were performed. There was no significant difference of serum irisin levels between severe preeclamptic (SPE)) patients, mild preeclamptic (MPE) patients and normal controls, while serum UII was significantly higher in preeclamptic women than normal pregnancy. There was no relationship between serum UII and irisin levels. In patients with preeclampsia, serum irisin was negatively associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure(r = -0.350, P = 0.004, r = -0.307, P = 0.011), while serum UII was positively associated with systolic blood pressure (r = 0.291, P = 0.031). Serum irisin, UII, urinary protein level, BMI and serum creatinine were the independent determinants of blood pressure in preeclampsia by multiple regression analysis. Protein expression of FNDC5 and UII was upregulated in placenta of patients with SPE and positively correlated with systolic blood pressure and urinary protein level. We firstly verify that serum irisin and placental irisin precursor expressions have differently correlated with blood pressure. Expressions of irisin and urotensin II have relationships with blood pressure in patients with preeclampsia.