Evaluation of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (htert) gene expression of placentas from pregnancies complicated with preeclampsia and with preeclampsia and iugr compared to normal pregnancies

Objective: To evaluate hTERT mRNA levels of plasental samples from normal pregnancies, pregnancies complicated with preeclampsia, and pregnancies complicated with preeclampsia and IUGR and to compare hTERT expression levels in these different groups. Material Method: Placental biopsies were taken from term and preterm pregnancies complicated with preeclampsia and with preeclampsia and IUGR, hTERT mRNA levels of these samples were compared with samples from uncomplicated pregnancies. Each group was classified into two subgroups. Cases between 24-34 weeks at the time of delivery were grouped as early-onset and cases later than 34 weeks at the time of delivery were grouped as late-onset. Placental biopsies were collected from 19 cases of preeclampsia and IUGR group (9 early-onset, 10 late-onset) and from 16 cases of preeclampsia only group (8 early-onset, 8 late-onset). Cases of control group were matched with study groups according to pregnancy week and maternal age, 20 cases (9 early-onset, 11 late-onset) were included as controls. mRNA levels of our target gene hTERT in plasental tissue samples were studied. For this purpose, cDNA synthesis was performed following total RNA isolation from the tissues and gene expression was evaluated in mRNA level using PCR techniques. Findings: hTERT mRNA expression levels were found to be statistically decreased for preeclampsia only group and for preeclampsia and IUGR group compared to the controls and this decrease was found to be statistically significant with p values p=0,015, p=0,001 respectively. When subgroups were evaluated individually only early-onset preeclampsia and IUGR group showed statistically significant decrease compared to the controls (p=0,000) while other subgroups showed no statistically difference compared to the controls. Results: hTERT mRNA expression levels were found to be decreased in pregnancies complicated with preeclampsia either it was accompanied with IUGR or not. When subgroups were evaluated individually this difference was only observed in early-onset preeclampsia and IUGR group. Further studies are required to shed light on telomere biology in order to better understand pathophysiological significance of these findings and to better understand these pregnancy-specific diseases.