Placental Microarray Profiling Reveals Common mRNA and lncRNA Expression Patterns in Preeclampsia and Intrauterine Growth Restriction

Preeclampsia (PE) and Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) are major contributors to perinatal morbidity and mortality. These pregnancy disorders are associated with placental dysfunction and share similar pathophysiological features. The aim of this study was to compare the placental gene expression profiles including mRNA and lncRNAs from pregnant women from four study groups: PE, IUGR, PE-IUGR, and normal pregnancy (NP). Gene expression microarray analysis was performed on placental tissue obtained at delivery and results were validated using RTq-PCR. Differential gene expression analysis revealed that the largest transcript variation was observed in the IUGR samples compared to NP (n = 461; 314 mRNAs: 252 up-regulated and 62 down-regulated; 133 lncRNAs: 36 up-regulated and 98 down-regulated). We also detected a group of differentially expressed transcripts shared between the PE and IUGR samples compared to NP (n = 39), including 9 lncRNAs with a high correlation degree (p < 0.05). Functional enrichment of these shared transcripts showed that cytokine signaling pathways, protein modification, and regulation of JAK-STAT cascade are over-represented in both placental ischemic diseases. These findings contribute to the molecular characterization of placental ischemia showing common epigenetic regulation implicated in the pathophysiology of PE and IUGR.