The expression of PLF in placenta in pregnancy-induced hypertension and the relationship between the PLF and serum VCAM-1.

To study the expression of placental isoferritin (PLF) in placental tissue of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) and the relationship between the level of expression of PLF and the amount of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in serum, immunohistochemical technique was used to detect the expression of PLF in placenta tissue in 45 PIH patients (PIH group) and 15 normal pregnant women (normal group). High resolution pathological image analysis system (HPIAS-100) was employed to determine the quantity of PLF. The VCAM-1 in serum was examined by enzyme linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA). The results showed that the levels of PLF expressions in moderate and severe PIH patients were significantly lower than that of normal group (P < 0.01). The serum VCAM-1 was significantly decreased in PIH group (1310 +/- 177 rho/ng/ml) than that of normal group (609 +/- 72 rho/ng/ml, P < 0.01). The significant negative correlation existed between the expression of PLF in placental tissue and the serum VACM-1 (r = -0.58, P < 0.01). It was concluded that the level of PLF expression in PIH decreases and is negatively correlated with the amount of serum VCAM-1, indicating that these may be involved in the pathogenesis of PIH.