(193) The expression of proteins associated with iron metabolism in the human placenta complicated with preeclampsia

Thursday, February 9, 2023

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Objective: Hepcidin and Ferroportin are key iron-regulatory hormones that play a role in controlling the delivery of iron to blood plasma from iron storage. Recent reports suggest aberrant iron metabolism is associated with preeclampsia. We aimed to observe whether these proteins express in the human placenta or not, and compare their expression according to the complication of preeclampsia.

Study Design: We obtained placental tissue from 16 singleton pregnancies (8 cases from normal pregnancies without labor, 8 cases from preeclampsia with severe features). Then, we performed quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot to detect Hepcidin and Ferroportin.

Results: We could observe the expression of both Hepcidin and Ferroportin in human placenta. Although there were no differences in these proteins expression between normal and preeclampsia pregnancies (p=0.674, p=0.401, respectively), the pattern of expression was different. Namely, the expression level of the two proteins was similar in 8 normal subjects, whereas it was varied in 8 preeclampsia patients (p= < 0.0001, p=0.72, respectively).

Conclusion:

Our data suggest that human placental Hepcidin and Ferroportin are expressed at constant levels in normal pregnancy. However, its expression became varied in preeclampsia implying aberrant iron metabolism would be one of the pathophysiologic mechanisms of preeclampsia.

Primary & Presenting Author(s)

Haemin Kim, MD (she/her/hers)
Clinical Fellowship
Kyungpook National University Hospital
Daegu, Taegu-jikhalsi, Republic of Korea

Coauthor(s)

HK
Hyo-shin Kim, MD
Kyungpook National University Hospital
Daegu, Taegu-jikhalsi, Republic of Korea
HK
Hyun Mi Kim, MD
Kyungpook National University Hospital
Daegu, Taegu-jikhalsi, Republic of Korea
MK
Mi Ju Kim, MD
Kyungpook National University Hospital
Daegu, Taegu-jikhalsi, Republic of Korea
HC
Hyun-Hwa Cha, MD, PhD
Kyungpook National University Hospital
Daegu, Taegu-jikhalsi, Republic of Korea
WS
Won Joon Seong, MASTER
Kyungpook National University Hospital
Daegu, Taegu-jikhalsi, Republic of Korea