Inhibin, activin, follistatin, activin receptors and beta-glycan gene expression in the placental tissue of patients with pre-eclampsia

The objective of this study was to quantify the relative expression of inhibin α, inhibin/activin βA, βB, βC, follistatin, activin receptors and β‐glycan genes in placental tissue of term pre‐eclamptic patients and controls to investigate if these genes are up‐regulated in the placenta in pre‐eclampsia. Seven women with pre‐eclampsia symptoms were matched with 10 normal pregnant controls for gestational age, maternal age, and parity. Total RNA was isolated from each sample. Complementary DNA samples produced by reverse transcription were used in the real time PCR to quantify the expression of inhibin α subunit, inhibin/activin βA, βB, βC subunits, follistatin, ACTRIA, ACTRIB, ACTRIIA, ACTRIIB, β‐glycan and GAPDH genes. The ratio between the target and GAPDH expression was calculated to provide relative gene expression. Inhibin α:GAPDH and inhibin/activin βA:GAPDH ratios were significantly higher in placental tissue from women with pre‐eclampsia (P = 0.04 and P = 0.01 respectively) compared with matched control placental gene expression. Placental samples from both groups expressed βB, βC, follistatin, activin receptors and β‐glycan genes. However, there was no significant difference in the relative expression of these genes between the groups. Increases in the placental expression of inhibin α and inhibin/activin βA subunit genes could contribute to the rise in circulating levels of inhibin A and activin A in pre‐eclampsia. The mechanism(s) involved in increased gene expression in pre‐eclampsia is as yet unclear.