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MMP-9 and miR-181a-5p in serum and placenta are associated with adverse outcomes of patients with severe preeclampsia and their infants

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 36, pages 1072–1077 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

This study explored the correlation of MMP-9 with miR-181a-5p in severe preeclampsia (SPE). Placental tissues and serum were collected from 30 pregnant SPE patients (aged 29.42 ± 3.75) and 30 normal pregnant women (aged 27.72 ± 2.21), followed by detecting MMP-9 and miR-181a-5p fold changes using RT-qPCR, and grouped as follows: high expression groups (≥median value): H-MMP-9 and H-miR-181a-5p vs. low expression groups (<median value): L-MMP-9 and L-miR-181a-5p. MMP-9 was weakly expressed (F = 709.99, p < 0.001; F = 670.45, p < 0.001) (serum: 0.41 ± 0.06 (fold changes); placenta: 0.42 ± 0.09 (fold changes)), whereas miR-181a-5p was highly expressed (F = 284.93, p < 0.001; F = 353.78, p < 0.001) (serum: 2.26 ± 0.39; placenta: 2.02 ± 0.29) in SPE patients. MMP-9 was negatively correlated with miR-181a-5p (serum: r = −0.5767, p = 0.0009; placenta: r = −0.5667, p = 0.0011) in SPE patients. MMP-9 showed positive-correlation with gestational week at delivery (r = 0.7625; p < 0.0001) and infant weight (r = 0.4947; p < 0.0001) of SPE patients. miR-181-5p showed negative-correlation (gestational week at delivery: r = −0.5614, p = 0.0012; infant weight: r = −0.4081, p = 0.0252). H-MMP-9 group had lower adverse outcome than L-MMP-9 group (p = 0.0006), and H-miR-181a-5p group had higher adverse outcome than L-miR-181a-5p group (p = 0.0036). In brief, MMP-9 was negatively correlated with miR-181a-5p in serum and placenta of SPE patients. MMP-9 and miR-181a-5p affected gestational week at delivery and infant weight, providing novel targets for SPE treatment.

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Fig. 1: Expressions of MMP-9 and miR-181a-5p in the serum and placenta of SPE patients and women with normal pregnancy.
Fig. 2: Correlation of MMP-9 with miR-181a-5p in  the serum and placenta of SPE patients.
Fig. 3: Correlation of MMP-9 and miR-181a-5p with a gestational week at delivery and infant weight.
Fig. 4: MMP-9 and miR-181a-5p were correlated with adverse outcomes of SPE patients and infants.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Yujie Zheng, Li Wang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shengli Oilfield Central Hospital, Dongying, 257034, Shandong Province, China

    Yujie Zheng, Li Wang, Feifei Niu, Yuanyuan Liu & Lin Feng

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Contributions

Y.J.Z., L.W. contributed to the study concepts, study design, and definition of intellectual content; F.F.N. contributed to the literature research; Y.J.Z., L.W., F.F.N., Y.Y.L. contributed to the manuscript preparation and L.F. contributed to the manuscript editing and review; Y.J.Z., L.W., F.F.N. contributed to the experimental studies and data acquisition; Y.Y.L., L.F. contributed to the data analysis and statistical analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lin Feng.

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This study strictly followed the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shengli Oilfield Central Hospital. All subjects signed informed consent forms before participating in the study.

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Zheng, Y., Wang, L., Niu, F. et al. MMP-9 and miR-181a-5p in serum and placenta are associated with adverse outcomes of patients with severe preeclampsia and their infants. J Hum Hypertens 36, 1072–1077 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-021-00643-z

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