Osteopontin tissue expression and vitamin D levels in normal versus preeclamptic pregnancies

Objective Over the last few years, vitamin D deficiency (VDD) was inconsistently reported to be linked to the development of preeclampsia. Osteopontin is an adhesion molecule necessary for trophoblastic invasion, a process which is defective in preeclampsia. As vitamin D was shown to affect osteopontin expression in different tissues, this study investigated this relation in preeclampsia. Patients and methods Gestational age-matching (32–40 weeks) controls (n=51) and preeclamptic pregnancies (n=51) were enrolled in this case–control study. Preeclampsia was subdivided into mild, early-onset, and late-onset severe preeclampsia (EOSPE and LOSPE). Serum levels of vitamin D were assessed. The intensity and distribution of osteopontin were immunohistochemically evaluated in extravillous cytotrophoblasts. Results Vitamin D deficiency was widely prevalent among the women studied (90.2%, n=92). Both VDD and osteopontin accumulation were more prominent in preeclampsia versus controls (P
Source: Egyptian Journal of Pathology - Category: Pathology Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLES Source Type: research