Search

Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of the serum concentration of nine matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) as biomarkers of spontaneous abortion.Methods: A retrospective nested cohort case-control study was carried out in Zacatecas, Mexico. MMP-1-3, MMP-7-10, and MMP-12-13 were analyzed in serum from women who had spontaneous abortion of unknown causes (n = 7), who suffered abortions attributed to urinary tract infection (n = 7) and from those with healthy pregnancies without complications (controls; n = 20). Protein profiles were determined between 11 and 13 weeks of gestation (GW) using the Bio-Plex Pro Human MMP Panel. Differences in serum MMP concentrations between the study groups and their correlation with clinical findings were evaluated statistically.Results: There were differences in serum concentrations of MMP-9 between groups of spontaneous abortion of unknown cause (13.2 ± 7.5 ng/µL), abortion attributed to urinary tract infection (11.6 ± 5.8 ng/µL) and the controls (11.8 ± 16.5 ng/µL) (p = .022). Compared with controls, higher serum concentrations of MMP-8, MMP-9, and MMP-10 were observed in the group of spontaneous abortions of unknown causes (p value < .05). A negative correlation between MMP-8 and MMP-9 and urine density was also identified (r = -0.949, p value = .0167; and r = -0.947, p = .0167).Conclusions: Elevated serum concentrations of MMP-8, MMP-9, and MMP-10 were associated and preceded by the appearance of spontaneous interruption of pregnancy of unknown causes. Our results support the hypothesis that altered MMP modulation may be related with the pathogenesis of spontaneous abortion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the implementation of programmes to improve maternal health, maternal and foetal mortality rates still remain high. The presence of maternal distress and its association with the development of pregnancy hypertensive disorders is not well established. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between maternal distress and the development of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy in a prospective cohort of 321 Mexican women. Symptoms of maternal distressing were evaluated at week 20th of gestation using the General Health Questionnaire. The presence of acute somatic symptoms, social dysfunction, anxiety and insomnia increased the odds of developing a pregnancy hypertensive disorder by 5.1-26.4 times in study population (p values < .05). Our results support the participation of maternal distress in the development of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. The implementation of effective programmes prioritising risk factors during pregnancy including the presence of maternal distressing factors is recommended. Impact statement What is already known on this subject: Changes in the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems have been observed in pregnant women with distress conditions leading to gestational disorders. What do the results of this study add: The presence of acute somatic symptoms, social dysfunction, anxiety and insomnia increased the developing of hypertensive disorders in Mexican population. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research: These findings may contribute to a better understanding of the role of the maternal stress in the development of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and in the implementation of effective programmes for clinical practice prioritising risk factors during pregnancy, including the presence of maternal distressing factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Preeclampsia, a pregnancy disorder characterized by hypertension and proteinuria, represents the leading cause of fetal and maternal morbidity and mortality in developing countries. The identification of novel and accurate biomarkers that are predictive of preeclampsia is necessary to improve the prognosis of patients with preeclampsia.Objective: To evaluate the preeclampsia predictive value of 34 angiogenic-related proteins.Methods: We performed a nested cohort case-control study of pregnant women. The profile of the 34 proteins was evaluated at 12, 16, and 20 gestational weeks (GWs), using urine/plasma from 16 women who developed preeclampsia and 20 normotensive pregnant controls by Bio-Plex ProTM Human Cancer Biomarker Panels 1 and 2.Results: The urine concentration of soluble epidermal growth factor receptor (sEGFR), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), angiopoietin-2 (ANG-2), endoglin (ENG), soluble fas ligand (sFASL), interleukin 6 (IL-6), placental growth factor (PLGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) at 12 GW, prolactin (PRL), ANG-2, transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-α), and VEGF-A at 16 GW, and soluble IL-6 receptor alpha (sIL-6Rα), ANG-2 and sFASL at 20 GW, were different between groups (p < 0.05). The concentration cut-off values calculated in this study for the mentioned proteins, predicted an increased risk to developing preeclampsia in a range of 3.8-29.8 times in the study population.Conclusion: The proteins sEGFR, HGF, ANG-2, sFASL, IL-6, PLGF, VEGF-A, PRL, TGF-α FGF-b, sHER2/Neu sIL-6Rα, ENG, uPA, and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 (IGFBP-1), were predictive of the development of preeclampsia and their use as markers for this disease should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Preeclampsia, a pregnancy disorder characterized by hypertension and proteinuria, represents the leading cause of fetal and maternal morbidity and mortality in developing countries. The identification of novel and accurate biomarkers that are predictive of preeclampsia is necessary to improve the prognosis of patients with preeclampsia. Objective:The objective of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of nine urinary metalloproteinases to predict the risk of preeclampsia development. Methods:MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-7, MMP-8, MMP-9, MMP-10, MMP-12 and MMP-13 were analyzed in urine (early-pregnancy) from 17 women predicted to develop preeclampsia and 48 controls using the Bio-Plex Pro-Human MMP panel (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA). Results:Urinary MMP-2 showed differences between groups which allowed us to calculate an increased risk for PE development of up to 20 times among the study population. Conclusion:Increased urinary concentration of MMP-2 at 12 and 16 weeks of gestation predicted an increased risk of developing preeclampsia in the study population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) is a hematological malignancy of immature B-cell precursors, affecting children more often than adults. The etiology of BCP-ALL is still unknown, but environmental factors, sex, race or ethnicity, and genomic alterations influence the development of the disease. Tools based on protein detection, such as flow cytometry, mass spectrometry, mass cytometry and reverse phase protein array, represent an opportunity to investigate BCP-ALL pathogenesis and to identify new biomarkers of disease. This review aims to document the recent advancements with respect to applications of proteomic technologies to study mechanisms of leukemogenesis, how this information could be used in the discovery of biological targets, and finally we describe the challenges of application of proteomic tools for the approach of BCP-ALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) is a hematological malignancy of immature B-cell precursors, affecting children more often than adults. The etiology of BCPALL is still unknown, but environmental factors, sex, race or ethnicity, and genomic alterations influence the development of the disease. Tools based on protein detection, such as flow cytometry, mass spectrometry, mass cytometry and reverse phase protein array, represent an opportunity to investigate BCP-ALL pathogenesis and to identify new biomarkers of disease. This review aims to document the recent advancements with respect to applications of proteomic technologies to study mechanisms of leukemogenesis, how this information could be used in the discovery of biological targets, and finally we describe the challenges of application of proteomic tools for the approach of BCP-ALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inadequate trophoblast invasion and the subsequent inflammatory response have been implicated in preeclampsia (PE) pathogenesis. Because MYC-induced nuclear antigen (MINA) gene expression is involved in cell proliferation and differentiation, inflammatory response modulation, and the unpaired regulation of which is associated with human diseases, we sought to investigate the connection between MINA and PE.Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible relationship between the MINA rs4857304 variant and susceptibility to PE development as well as to estimate placental MINA gene expression and its association with PE.Methods: About 242 pregnant women (126 PE cases and 116 controls) were included. MINA genotyping and gene expression were evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction using TaqMan probes.Results: The G/G genotype of the MINA rs4857304 variant was associated with severe PE (p = 0.027, OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.8-3.2). Carriers of one G allele of the MINA rs4857304 variant exhibited a 1.7-fold increased risk of severe PE (p = 0.029, 95% CI = 1.1-3.0). MINA was underexpressed in preeclamptic placentas and MINA expression differed between the mild and severe PE groups. Differences in the expression levels of MINA were found among women with the T/T genotype of the rs4857304 polymorphism and carriers of at least one G allele (p = 0.024).Conclusion: PE and its severity are associated with the underexpression of placental MINA, and the G/G genotype of the MINA rs4857304 variant may modify the risk of severe PE among the PE cases evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]