Mol. Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on November 29, 2007
Molecular Human Reproduction 2008 14(1):61-65; doi:10.1093/molehr/gam083
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Gene expression profile in labouring and non-labouring human placenta near term


1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital of North Norway and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, PO Box 24, Tromsø N-9038, Norway 2Laboratory of Molecular Medical Research, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, N-9037, Tromsø, Norway 3Department of Medical Genetics, University Hospital of North Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway 5Present address: WesternGeco, Oslo Technology Center, Schlumberger House, 1372 Asker, Norway
4 Correspondence address. Tel: +47-776-26-000; Fax: +47-776-26-421; E-mail: vasilis.sitras{at}unn.no
The duration of pregnancy and initiation of labour are thought to be controlled by fetal, maternal and placental factors. The aim of this study was to investigate whether labour influences gene expression in placenta near term. Placental samples were obtained from 27 women after vaginal delivery (labouring) and 17 women after elective Caesarean section (non-labouring). All women were Caucasian and had uncomplicated pregnancies. For global gene expression analysis, 17 human oligo-arrays were used, representing 24 650 genes each. An empirical Bayes analysis was applied in order to find differentially expressed genes. About 8000 genes that were represented on the arrays met our quality criteria. Ninety two genes were down-regulated and 94 genes were up-regulated in labouring placentas compared to non-labouring placentas. However, none of these was differentially expressed at a significant level (>2.5-fold change and a P-value of <0.01). We conclude that gene expression in near term human placenta is not significantly altered by labour.
Key words: gene expression/parturition/placenta
These authors contributed equally to this work. Submitted on September 14, 2007; resubmitted on November 8, 2007; accepted on November 27, 2007.