Complement inhibitory proteins expression in placentas of thrombophilic women Complement inhibitory proteins expression in placentas of thrombophilic women

• Main Authors: Przemysław Krzysztof Wirstlein, Piotr Jasiński, Marcin Rajewski, Tomasz Goździewicz, Jana Skrzypczak
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Via Medica 2012-10-01
• Series: Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica
• Online Access: http://czasopisma.viamedica.pl/fhc/article/view/19758

Factors controlling complement activation appear to exert a protective effect on pregnancy. This is&lt;br /&gt;particularly important in women with thrombophilia. The aim of this study was to determine the transcript and&lt;br /&gt;protein levels of complement decay-accelerating factor (DAF) and membrane cofactor protein (MCP) in the&lt;br /&gt;placentas of women with acquired and inherited thrombophilia. Also, we assessed immunohistochemistry staining&lt;br /&gt;of inhibitors of the complement cascade, DAF and MCP proteins, in the placentas of thrombophilic women.&lt;br /&gt;Placentas were collected from eight women with inherited thrombophilia and ten with acquired thrombophilia.&lt;br /&gt;The levels of DAF and MCP transcripts were evaluated by qPCR, the protein level was evaluated by Western&lt;br /&gt;blot. We observed a higher transcript (p &amp;lt; 0.05) and protein (p &amp;lt; 0.001) levels of DAF and MCP in the placentas&lt;br /&gt;of thrombophilic women than in the control group. DAF and MCP were localized on villous syncytiotrophoblast&lt;br /&gt;membranes, but the assessment of staining in all groups did not differ. The observed higher expression level of&lt;br /&gt;proteins that control activation of complement control proteins is only seemingly contradictory to the changes&lt;br /&gt;observed for example in the antiphospholipid syndrome. However, given the hitherto known biochemical changes&lt;br /&gt;associated with thrombophilia, a mechanism in which increased expression of DAF and MCP in the placentas is&lt;br /&gt;an effect of proinflammatory cytokines, which accompanies thrombophilia, is probable.<br>Factors controlling complement activation appear to exert a protective effect on pregnancy. This is&lt;br /&gt;particularly important in women with thrombophilia. The aim of this study was to determine the transcript and&lt;br /&gt;protein levels of complement decay-accelerating factor (DAF) and membrane cofactor protein (MCP) in the&lt;br /&gt;placentas of women with acquired and inherited thrombophilia. Also, we assessed immunohistochemistry staining&lt;br /&gt;of inhibitors of the complement cascade, DAF and MCP proteins, in the placentas of thrombophilic women.&lt;br /&gt;Placentas were collected from eight women with inherited thrombophilia and ten with acquired thrombophilia.&lt;br /&gt;The levels of DAF and MCP transcripts were evaluated by qPCR, the protein level was evaluated by Western&lt;br /&gt;blot. We observed a higher transcript (p &amp;lt; 0.05) and protein (p &amp;lt; 0.001) levels of DAF and MCP in the placentas&lt;br /&gt;of thrombophilic women than in the control group. DAF and MCP were localized on villous syncytiotrophoblast&lt;br /&gt;membranes, but the assessment of staining in all groups did not differ. The observed higher expression level of&lt;br /&gt;proteins that control activation of complement control proteins is only seemingly contradictory to the changes&lt;br /&gt;observed for example in the antiphospholipid syndrome. However, given the hitherto known biochemical changes&lt;br /&gt;associated with thrombophilia, a mechanism in which increased expression of DAF and MCP in the placentas is&lt;br /&gt;an effect of proinflammatory cytokines, which accompanies thrombophilia, is probable.