Elevated placental soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 inhibits angiogenesis in preeclampsia

Shakil Ahmad, Asif Ahmed

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

385 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Preeclampsia is an inflammatory disorder in which serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its soluble receptor-1 (sVEGFR-1, also known as sFlt-1) are elevated. We hypothesize that VEGF and placenta growth factor (PlGF) are dysregulated in preeclampsia due to high levels of sVEGFR-1, which leads to impaired placental angiogenesis. Analysis of supernatants taken from preeclamptic placental villous explants showed a four-fold increase in sVEGFR-1 than normal pregnancies, suggesting that villous explants in vitro retain a hypoxia memory reflecting long-term fetal programming. The relative ratios of VEGF to sVEGFR-1 and PlGF to sVEGFR-1 released from explants decreased by 53% and 70%, respectively, in preeclampsia compared with normal pregnancies. Exposure of normal villous explants to hypoxia increased sVEGFR-1 release compared with tissue normoxia (P
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)884-891
Number of pages8
JournalCirculation Research
Volume95
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Oct 2004

Keywords

  • sFlt-1
  • VEGF
  • PLGF
  • angiogenesis
  • preeclampsia

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