European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology
DNA damage and oxidative stress in patients with mild preeclampsia and offspring
Introduction
Pre-eclampsia is a complex multisystemic disorder and is associated with the highest maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality of all pregnancy complications [1]. It is recognized that injury to the vascular endothelium is a basic pathological event in pre-eclampsia [2] and such endothelial damage is mediated by oxidative stress imposed by increased generation of oxygen free radicals or a fall in antioxidant levels [3]. Patients with pre-eclampsia have been shown to be under increased oxidative stress [4] and oxygen free radicals created by such stress induce several types of DNA damage [5]. Many pathological conditions including various cancers, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, inflammation/infection, and aging are associated with DNA damage [6], [7].
Several methods have been employed to monitor genetic damage to mononuclear leukocytes as an indicator of general genetic damage. These include the micronucleus (MN) test, analysis of chromosomal aberrations, the sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) test, gene mutation tests, and the comet assay [8]. Of these tests, the comet assay (single-cell gel electrophoresis) is a well-established genotoxicity test that is simple, rapid and sensitive; the test has been used to assess the extent of endogenous DNA damage [8], [9]. The assay has not been used, however, to gather information on any possible peripheral DNA damage in women with mild pre-eclampsia. In the present study, therefore, we explored DNA damage and oxidative marker levels in mildly pre-eclamptic women and their offspring to determine if DNA damage and oxidant status were associated in women with this syndrome.
Section snippets
Subjects
This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harran University School of Medicine and Sanliurfa Women's Health and Maternity Hospital between January 2012 and August 2012. Twenty-five hypertensive pregnant women (mildly pre-eclamptic) and 20 normotensive pregnant women were included. Mild pre-eclampsia was considered present when a diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or greater was measured on two occasions at least 6 h apart and when proteinuria was
Results
The demographic and clinical characteristics of the subjects are shown in Table 1. Body mass index (BMI) did not differ significantly between the two groups. Newborns of pre-eclamptic mothers had significantly lower Apgar scores and lower birthweights. Pre-eclamptic mothers’ blood samples had significantly higher levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and creatinine than did control samples and the white blood cell (WBC) count was also higher (Table 2). The extent of damage to mononuclear
Comment
We found that women whose pregnancies were complicated by mild pre-eclampsia had increased levels of mononuclear DNA damage, TOS, and OSI, and a decreased TAS level compared to woman with normal pregnancies. Additionally, increased levels of umbilical cord mononuclear leukocyte DNA damage, TOS, OSI, and a decreased TAS level were evident in the test group. Moreover, in that group, the extent of DNA damage was negatively correlated with TAS and positively correlated with diastolic blood pressure.
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Pregnancy, preeclampsia and maternal aging: From epidemiology to functional genomics
2022, Ageing Research ReviewsMelatonin treatment in fetal and neonatal diseases
2018, Pathology Research and PracticeCitation Excerpt :Studies demonstrate that the increased expression of 8-hydroxy-20-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and of repair enzyme redox factor-1 (Ref-1) are important markers of OS, not only in the placenta of pregnant women with PE or IUGR, but also in women with PE accompanied by IUGR [30,31]. Therefore, there is a significant increase in the maternal serum levels of derivatives of reactive oxygen metabolites [30–32], 8-isoprostane [33], creatinine, and aspartate aminotransferase [34]. Maternal obesity is another factor that may lead to OS during pregnancy, since lipotoxicity causes endothelial dysfunction, and compromises trophoblast invasion, as well as its metabolism and function.
Evaluation of DNA damage profile in obese women and its association to risk of metabolic syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome and recurrent preeclampsia
2018, Genes and DiseasesCitation Excerpt :Results of former studies that investigated DNA damage in women with pre-eclampsia are controversial. Some studies found elevated levels of oxidative DNA damage in pre-eclamptic women either concomitant with other pregnancy complications like intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) or not relative to controls,36 even in mildly pre-eclamptic patients without IUGR.37 Similarly, Furness and colleagues38 reported significantly increased DNA damage in women who developed PE and/or IUGR before an appearance of the symptoms.38
Strontium and its role in preeclampsia
2018, Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and BiologyCitation Excerpt :Endothelial dysfunction contributes significantly to the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE) and has been related to the oxidative stress of placenta [1–7].
Maternal serum uric acid levels and blood pressure during pregnancy: A community-based cohort study
2018, European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive BiologyCitation Excerpt :These pregnancy studies focused exclusively on high maternal UA, though there is reason to suspect that unusually low maternal UA also may be clinically relevant. Such a speculation is supported by the facts that both high and low serum UA levels are related to increased oxidative stress in in-vivo studies [9] and that increased maternal oxidative stress is linked to hypertensive disorders in pregnant women [10–14]. In the present study we hypothesized that maternal blood pressure (BP) would be higher at both extremes of UA levels (a non-linear relationship).