Introduction: Preeclampsia (PE) is a major cause of maternal and perinatal mobility and mortality and its etiology is not yet completely understood. Recently studies have shown the association between increased expression of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in placental of women with PE and its physiopathology.
Objectives: Identify and quantify GAGs in placental of pregnant women in healthy pregnancy and PE.
Methods: Case-control study with 44 patients, control group (CG) n=29 and n=15 PE group. All patients were submitted to placental tissue resection (sample size of 5×5cm with the umbilical cord insertion in the center). The tissue was conserved in acetone. The GAGs' analysis consisted of centrifugation, proteolysis, precipitation, and electrophoresis
Results: Average age and gestational age in CG and PE were 27.33years and 39.02weeks and 24.17 and 36.90, respectively. In CG 68.96% (20/29) were Caucasian and 80.00% (12/15) in PE. We found in CG 34.48% (10/29) of primiparous and 40.00% (6/15) in PE. The average 24-hour proteinuria in PE was 554.28g/24hs. The average birth weight was 3333.31g in CG and 2972.66 in PE. The mean ± standard deviation of dermatan sulfate (DS), heparan sulfate (HS) and hyaluronic acid (HA) in CG and PE were: 0,100μg/mg of tissue ±0,005 and 0,144 ±0,071; 0,077±0,041 and 0,113±0,061; 1,281±1,857 and 3,076±4,930.
Conclusion: GAGs are increased in PE when compared to normal pregnancy. The expression of HA and HS was twice higher in PE. More studies are needed to determine the correlation between GAGs and physiopathology of PE.
Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier B.V.