Differential placental gene expression in preeclampsia

OBJECTIVE: Candidate genes that are associated with preeclampsia have not been described fully. We conducted microarray and confirmatory quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction studies to investigate global placental gene expression in preeclampsia. STUDY DESIGN: RNA was extracted from placental samples that were collected from 18 preeclampsia cases and 18 normotensive control subjects. Oligonucleotide probes that represented 22,000 genes were used to measure gene expression in each sample. Differential gene expression was evaluated with the Student t test, fold change assessment, and significance analysis of microarrays. Functions and functional relationships of differentially expressed genes were evaluated. RESULTS: Genes (n = 58) that participated in immune system, inflammation, oxidative stress, signaling, growth, and development pathways were expressed differentially in preeclampsia. These genes included previously described candidate genes (such as leptin), potential candidate genes with related functions (such as CYP11A) and novel genes (such as CDKN1C). CONCLUSION: Expression of genes (both candidate and novel) with diverse functions is associated with preeclampsia risk, which reflects the complex pathogenesis.