The Expression Of Inhibin α,βA,βB Subunits And Follistatin In Placenta And Their Relationship To FGR

Objective:To explore the expression of inhibin α, inhibin/activin βA, βB and follistatin in placental tissue of term FGR patients and controls to investigate their relationship to FGR,and to discuss what are the roles of inhibin α, inhibin/activin βA, βB and follistatin in FGR.Methods:Clinical data of30cases of pregnant women with FGR in our hospital from October2010to December2011were analyzed. Meanwhile,20cases of pregnant women which had normal birth weight were randomly selected as control.1. HE staining:To prepare paraffin sections of placental tissue, observed them under high power lens of light microscope after HE staining, to evaluate the interstitial fibrosis and necrosis of villus and syncytiotrophoblast nodes.2. Immunohistochemical staining:To prepare paraffin sections of placental tissue,using specific antibody of inhibin α, inhibin/activin βA, βB and follistatin to proceed immunohistochemical stain respectively, observed their expression under high power lens of light microscope and half-quantified their expression.3. Realtime PCR:Extracted RNA from homogenate of placental tissue, and then reversed transcription to be cDNA.Finally we acquired two groups of data of inhibin α, inhibin/activin βA, βB and follistatin through realtime PCR, and then quantified the relative expression of them.Results:1. HE staining results:There’re plenty of villus in control group, which contained many blood vessels and syncytiotrophoblast predominated there. Contrast to control group, there were more interstitial fibrosis, necrosis and calcification of villus, syncytiotrophoblast nodes appeared more ofen. There were less even no blood vessel in villi, and capillary wall was thicker, the lumen became constrictive even occlusive.2. Immunohistochemical staining results:In placental tissue of control group, inhibin α, inhibin/activin βA, βB and follistatin expressed mostly in cytoplasm of syncytiotrophoblast and trophoblast, among there we could observe the highest expression,and blood vessel endothelium came second. In FGR group, inhibin a, inhibin/activin βA and follistatin expressed in the same place with control, but we could not observe positive stain of inhibin/activin βB subunit.3. Immunohistochemical staining results:The degree of positive stain of inhibin a, inhibin/activin PA and follistatin in FGR group was significantly higer than control group, but the situation is reverse when came to inhibin/activin βB subunit(all P<0.05).4. Realtime PCR results:The quantified relative expression of inhibin a, inhibin/activin βA and follistatin in FGR group was significantly higer than control group, but the quantified relative expression of inhibin/activin βB subunit was lower than control group,the differences all had statistical significance(allP<0.05).Conclusion:1. The expression level of inhibinA and activinA in placenta of pregnancy with FGR were obviously higer than normal, while the expression level of activinAB, activinB and inhibinB were lower than normal.2. The expression level of follistatin was higer than normal when FGR took place, but the total level in placenta was far lower than inhibinA and activinA.3. Inhibin-Activin-Follistatin system was involved in the regulation of fetal growth, the disorder of this system could result in FGR.