Circulating and placental growth-differentiation factor 15 in preeclampsia and in pregnancy complicated by diabetes mellitus

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Item Type:	Article
Title:	Circulating and placental growth-differentiation factor 15 in preeclampsia and in pregnancy complicated by diabetes mellitus
Creators Name:	Sugulle, M., Dechend, R., Herse, F., Weedon-Fekjaer, M.S., Johnsen, G.M., Brosnihan, K.B., Anton, L., Luft, F.C., Wollert, K.C., Kempf, T. and Staff, A.C.
Abstract:	Growth-differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), a stress-responsive transforming growth factor-beta-related cytokine, is emerging as a new risk marker in patients with cardiovascular disease. We explored GDF-15 in preeclampsia and in diabetic pregnancies, because these conditions are associated with augmented risk for cardiovascular disease, both in mother and in offspring. Plasma from pregnant women (n=267; controls: n=59, preeclampsia: n=85, diabetes mellitus: n=112, and superimposed preeclampsia in diabetes mellitus: n=11), fetal plasma (n=72), and amniotic fluid (n=99) were analyzed by immunoassay for GDF-15. Placental GDF-15 mRNA and protein expression levels were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR and immunoblots in 78 and 18 pregnancies, respectively. Conditioned media from preeclamptic (n=6) and control (n=6) villous placenta explants were analyzed by immunoassay for GDF-15. Median maternal GDF-15 concentration was elevated in those with diabetes mellitus, as compared with controls (91 549 versus 79 875 ng/L; P=0.02). Median GDF-15 concentration was higher in patients with preeclampsia than in controls in term maternal blood samples (127 061 versus 80 319 ng/L; P<0.001). In the fetal circulation and amniotic fluid, GDF-15 was elevated in preeclampsia and superimposed preeclampsia in diabetes mellitus, as compared with controls. GDF-15 placental mRNA expression was elevated in preeclampsia, as compared with controls (P=0.002). Placenta immunoblots confirmed a single GDF-15 protein band, and a time-dependent increase in GDF-15 protein was detected in the conditioned media. Our study is the first to show that GDF-15 is dysregulated, both in preeclampsia and in diabetic pregnancies. The mechanisms and diagnostic implications of these findings remain to be explored.
Keywords:	Cardiovascular Disease, Growth Differentiation Factor 15, Preeclampsia, Diabetes Mellitus, Pregnancy
Source:	Hypertension
ISSN:	0194-911X
Publisher:	American Heart Association
Volume:	54
Number:	1
Page Range:	106-112
Date:	July 2009
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.109.130583
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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