Table 1. Summaries of studies on autophagy in placenta with preeclampsia and FGR.
| Author (year) | Study population | Gestational age at delivery (wk)a) | Neonatal weight (g)a) | Methods used | Markers of autophagy assessed and results compared to normal pregnancy | Conclusions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oh et al. (2008) [93] | Normal (n=8) Severe PE (n=11) |
38.6 (38.3–39.3) 33.1 (28.0–40.1) P<05 |
3,265 (3,010–4,220) 1,671 (740–3,200) P<001 |
WB, RT-PCR, IHC | LC3-II ↑, beclin 1 (−) | Increase autophagy in severe PE |
| Hung et al. (2012) [95] | Normal (n=14) FGRb) (n=14) PE (n=18) FGR+PE (n=15) |
38.3±1.0 38.3±1.2 37.4±2.8 35.2±3.4 P<0.05 |
3,176±567 2,284±378 2,862±658 1,855±525 P<0.001 |
IF, WB, real time qPCR | LC3-II ↑, beclin 1 ↑, DRAM ↑ | Increase autophagy in FGR or FGR+PE No difference in PE only |
| Curtis et al. (2013) [96] | Normal (n=6) FGRc) (n=6) |
39+2 (37+6–39+5) 37+5 (30+0–39+5) P=NS |
3,440 (2,550–3,570) 2,250 (646–2,700) P<0.01 |
WB, IHC | LC3-B↑, LAMP-2 (−) | Increase autophagy in FGR |
| Normal (n=6) FGRc) (n=6) |
40+0 (38+2–41+5) 39+2 (34+0–40+3) P<0.01 |
3,510 (2,850–4,380) 2,280 (1,800–2,600) P<0.0001 |
EM | Autophagic vacuole↑ | ||
| Akaishi et al. (2014) [94] | Normal (n=19) Gestational HT (n=8) PE (n=13) |
37.0±3.0 34.9±2.5 34.6±2.9 P<0.05 |
2,700±600 2,200±500 2,000±700 P<0.05 |
WB | LC3-II ↑, p62 ↓ | Increase autophagy in hypertensive disorders (gestational HT or PE) regardless of FGR |
| Gao et al. (2015) [97] | Normal (n=20) Early onset PE (n=18) |
39.0±1.2 33.5±1.1 P<0.01 |
2,886±609 1,964±235 P<0.01 |
IHC, IF | LC3-II ↑, beclin 1 ↑ | Increase autophagy in early onset PE |
FGR, fetal growth restriction; PE, preeclampsia; WB, western blot; RT-PCR, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; IHC, immunohistochemistry; LC3, microtubule-associated proteins light chain 3; IF, immunofluorescence; qPCR, quantitative polymerase chain reaction; DRAM, damage-regulated autophagy modulator; NS, not significant; LAMP, lysosomal-associated membrane protein; EM, electron microscopy; HT,hypertension.
a)P-value to compare gestational age at delivery and neonatal weight between preeclampsia or FGR compared to normal pregnancy was presented in each study; b)FGR defined as <5 percentile; c)FGR defined as <3 percentile, (−), no difference.