Abstract
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.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 839-845 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Archives of Medical Research |
Volume | 38 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2007 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the Seoul Research and Business Development Program and Korean Research Foundation grant funded by the Korean Government (Leading Woman in the Science Program, KRF-2005-204-E00049).
Keywords
- ADMA
- HSP70
- LOX-1
- Nitric oxide
- Oxidative stress
- Placenta