The placenta is a mixture of cell types, which may regulate maternal-fetal transfer of exogenous chemicals or become altered in response to exposures. We leveraged placental DNA methylation to characterize major constituent cell types and applied compositional data analysis to test associations with non-essential metal(loid)s measured in paired umbilical cord tissue (N = 158). Higher proportions of syncytiotrophoblasts were associated with lower arsenic, whereas higher proportions of Hofbauer cells were associated with higher cadmium concentrations in umbilical cords. These findings suggest that placental cellular composition influences amounts of metal(loid)s transferred to the fetus or that prenatal exposures alter the placental cellular makeup.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.placenta.2024.01.009 | DOI Listing |
Inflamm Res
January 2025
Department of Burns and Cutaneous Surgery, Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University, No.127 Changle West Road, Xincheng District, Xi'an, 710032, Shaanxi, China.
Background: Hypertrophic scar (HS) is a severe skin fibrosis. Transplanting stem cells carrying anti-fibrotic cytokine genes, like interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), is a novel therapeutic strategy. Human amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs) are ideal seed cells and gene vectors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Biosci (Landmark Ed)
January 2025
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zhongda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, 210000 Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
Background: Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a gestational disorder that significantly endangers maternal and fetal health. Transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA)-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) are important in the progression and diagnosis of various diseases. However, their role in the development of PE is unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLife (Basel)
January 2025
Institute of Anatomy and Anthropology, Riga Stradins University, Kronvalda Boulevard 9, LV-1010 Riga, Latvia.
Background: Numerous studies have shown the presence of multiple defence factors in placental tissue, although their role is partially understood; therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB); human beta-defensin 2, 3, and 4 (HBD-2,3,4); cathelicidine (LL-37); heat shock protein 60 (HSP60); and interleukin 10 (IL-10) in dissimilar gestational week placental tissue and display correlations between immunoreactive cells.
Methods: A total of 15 human placental tissue samples were acquired from mothers with different gestational weeks: 28, 31, and 40. Routine staining and immunohistochemistry for the samples were executed.
Int J Mol Sci
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Virology and Biosafety, Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
HERVs (Human endogenous retroviruses) are remnants of ancient exogenous retroviruses that have integrated into the human genome, particularly in germ-line cells. Among these, the envelope protein gene (Human endogenous retroviruses W family envelope protein), located on chromosome 7 and primarily expressed in the human placenta, has been closely linked to various neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, as well as autoimmune diseases and cancer. Recent studies have highlighted the abnormal expression of cytokines as a key factor in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiology (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Animal Anatomy, University of Marilia, Marília 17525-902, São Paulo, Brazil.
South American camelids inhabit high-altitude environments characterized by hypoxia, influencing embryonic, fetal, and placental development. This study examined the term placenta morphology of alpacas (, N = 12) and the immunoexpression of antioxidant selenoproteins (SP). We hypothesize that the placenta of alpacas, adapted to high altitudes, has characteristics with other species also adapted to altitude.
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