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Mol. Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on April 16, 2008
Molecular Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/molehr/gan017
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

CALRETICULIN IN HUMAN PREGNANCY AND PRE-ECLAMPSIA

VY Gu1,2, MH Wong1,2, JL Stevenson1, KE Crawford1,2, SP Brennecke1,2 and NM Gude1,2,3

1Department of Perinatal Medicine, Pregnancy Research Centre, Royal Women's Hospital, Carlton 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

3 Correspondence address: Department of Perinatal Medicine, Pregnancy Research Centre, Royal Women's Hospital, 132 Grattan Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia. E-mail: neil.gude{at}rwh.org.au

Pre-eclampsia is a disorder of human pregnancy that involves pregnancy-induced maternal hypertension and proteinuria. Evidence indicates that pre-eclampsia involves widespread activation of maternal endothelial cells. Calreticulin is a ubiquitously expressed, multifunctional protein that has been shown to have both pro- and anti-inflammatory effects on cultured endothelial cells in vitro and in whole animals. In order to clarify the role of this protein in normal human pregnancy and in pre-eclampsia, this study has measured expression of calreticulin in maternal blood and in placenta in patients with pre-eclampsia and in control pregnancies. There was a significant increase (approximately 5-fold) in calreticulin in plasma in term pregnant women compared with women who were not pregnant. There was no difference, however, in calreticulin in plasma from women who were sampled at first trimester, second trimester and at term. In addition, there was a significant increase (approximately 50%) in calreticulin in plasma from pre-eclamptic women compared to controls. Calreticulin mRNA and protein expression in placenta were not changed between pre-eclampsia and control pregnancies. These novel results indicate that calreticulin is increased in peripheral maternal blood early in pregnancy and remains elevated throughout normal gestation and that there is a further increase in calreticulin in pre-eclampsia.

Key Words: calreticulin/pre-eclampsia/pregnancy/placenta

Submitted on December 19, 2007; resubmitted on March 19, 2008; accepted on March 27, 2008.


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