Placental and maternal serum inhibin-A and activin-A levels in Down's syndrome pregnancies

The objective of this study was to analyse the levels of inhibin-A and activin-A in maternal serum and placental tissue from Down's syndrome (DS) pregnancies. Inhibin-A and activin-A levels were determined by specific immunoassays and individual results were expressed as multiples of the control median (MoM) at the appropriate gestation. Immunohistochemistry was used to localize inhibin alpha and beta (A)-subunits in a selection of placental sections. In DS pregnancies, median inhibin-A levels were found to be significantly elevated to 1.46 MoM (P<0.05) in placental extracts, and 2.06 MoM (P<0.0001) in maternal serum, when compared with uncomplicated pregnancies. Median activin-A MoMs were also elevated in placental extracts and maternal serum to 1.62 MoM (P<0.01), and 1.26 MoM (P<0.05), respectively. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the alpha subunit of inhibin-A and the beta (A) subunit of inhibin-A and activin-A were mainly localized to the trophoblastic layer of placental villi. Semiquantitative studies of staining intensity revealed a trend towards stronger staining of placental trophoblasts and stroma of DS tissues, although this was statistically significant only for beta (A) subunit staining of trophoblasts (P<0.05). These results support the hypothesis that maternal serum levels of inhibin-A and activin-A are elevated due to increased production in the placenta, and increased immunostaining of trophoblasts suggests that this may be due to increased production in the trophoblasts. (C) 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.