Prenatal Increased Asymmetric Dimethylarginine Is Associated with Placental Heat-Shock Protein 70 and Lectin-like Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor-1 Expression

• Published in: Archives of medical research 2007-11, Vol.38 (8), p.839-845
• Main Authors: Kim, Young Ju, Jeon, Yeo Jin, Ahn, Young Mo, Lee, Hwa Young, Woo, So Yeon, Park, Hye Sook, Ha, Eun Hee, Pang, Myung Geol
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ADMA; Arginine - analogs & derivatives; Arginine - blood; Arginine - metabolism; Blotting, Western; Female; HSP70; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins - metabolism; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Internal Medicine; LOX-1; Nitric oxide; Nitric Oxide - antagonists & inhibitors; Oxidative stress; Placenta; Placenta - metabolism; Pregnancy; Scavenger Receptors, Class E - metabolism; Term Birth - blood; Term Birth - metabolism
• ISSN: 0188-4409; 1873-5487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.arcmed.2007.05.005

Background Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, induces endothelial dysfunction by reversibly blocking NO production from L-arginine. To elucidate the association of prenatal status of ADMA with placental heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) and lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1) in normal full-term pregnancies, we evaluated the expression of placental HSP70 and LOX-1. Methods Tissue samples of placentas obtained from 60 normal-term pregnancies were categorized into 30 cases with a lower level of prenatal ADMA (0.28 ± 0.07 μM) and 30 cases with a higher level of prenatal ADMA (1.31 ± 0.44 μM). We evaluated the placental expression of HSP70 and LOX-1 with Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry and determined the correlation between HSP70 and LOX-1. Results We found that prenatal increased ADMA is associated with increased placental HSP70 and LOX-1 expression. Conclusions We postulate that higher ADMA levels are associated with excessive levels of oxidative damage and stress markers (HSP, LOX-1) in placental tissues.