The role of plasental apoptosis in pathogenesis of preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder that has high maternal and fetal morbidity and/or mortality with proteinuria and multiorgan failure. The two important pathologies that take place in the pathogenesis are insufficient trofoblast invasion and endothelial dysfunction.Apoptosis is the programmed cell death which is independent from the neighbouring cell damage. It can be seen in both the physiological and pathological conditions. Increased apoptosis qantification in the complicated pregnancies such as preeclampsia, IUGR and EMR directed evidence on the placenta and placental apoptopic mechanisms.The main goal of this study was to investigate the role of placental apoptosis in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. We collected material from placental bed of 15 preeclamptic and 15 healthy pregnancies via punch biopsy between september 2006 and september 2007 at the University of Dokuz Eylül Faculty of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. TUNEL, caspase -3 and bax immunohistochemistry were used for the evaluation of placental samples.There was not any statisticaly significant difference between the age and partus of each groups. As compatible with low birth weight and early gestational week Apgar 1 and Apgar 5 scors have significantly lower values when compared with control group.There was no statisticaly significant difference in placental weigths between two groupsWhen compared with control group, statisticaly significant increase in apoptosis was observed in TUNEL, caspase-3 and bax immunohistochemistry of placental samples of the preeclamptic group.As we consider the increased placental apoptosis according to the gestational week of healthy pregnancies, the plasental apoptosis in the mean early gestational weeks of preeclamptic group was significantly higher than that of term control group . We think that pathologic apoptosis of preeclampsia was different from the increased physiological apoptosis according to the placental aging.