Placental gene expression of inflammatory markers and growth factors--a case control study of obese and normal weight women.

Objective: To survey the placental gene expression of inflammatory markers and growth factors in non-smoking obese women with an uncomplicated pregnancy without associated morbidity and delivery at term compared with normal weight women.

Methods: Placental tissue samples from 32 obese women (body mass index, BMI≥35.0 kg/m2) were compared with samples from 94 normal weight women (BMI 18.5-25.0 kg/m2) matched for age (±1 year), gestational age (±3 days), parity and mode of delivery. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to analyse toll receptor-2 and -4, interleukin-6 and -8, tumour necrosis factor-α, leptin, adiponectin, insulin-like growth factor-1 and -2, hepatocyte growth factor, hepatocyte growth factor receptor and insulin receptor.

Results: There was no significant difference in gene expression in placental tissue samples from obese and normal weight women.

Conclusion: We found no difference in the occurrence of inflammatory marker and growth factor mRNA levels in placental tissue samples from a large group of obese women without associated morbidity and with healthy infants compared to a closely matched control group of healthy normal weight women. Compared with the previous studies, this anomalous finding may be explained by the absence of associated morbidity in the obese women in our study.