F. Debieve et al., Vascular endothelial growth factor and placenta growth concentrations in Down's syndrome and control pregnancies, MOL HUM REP, 7(8), 2001, pp. 765-770
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and placenta growth factor (PLGF)
are considered to play important roles in angiogenesis and vascular permea
bility during placental development. Since trisomy 21 placentae show tropho
blastic hypoplasia and hypovascularity, we investigated PLGF and VEGF synth
esis in Down's syndrome pregnancies. Maternal serum was collected from 102
euploid and 24 trisomy 21 pregnancies between 15 and 20 weeks gestation and
tested for these two factors by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Protei
n extracts from 15 normal and six trisomy 21 placentae were also tested. VE
GF was not detected in maternal serum, while PLGF increased significantly w
ith gestational age. Serum PLGF, transformed as a multiple of the gestation
al age median (MoM), in Down's syndrome pregnancies was significantly lower
than in euploid controls (mean 0.67 +/- 0.043 MoM versus 1.00 +/- 0.047 Mo
M, analysis of variance F = 11.605, P < 0.001). Both VEGF and PLGF were det
ected in placental protein extracts without variation according to gestatio
nal age. Down's syndrome placentae had significantly less PLGF compared to
normal placentae (Mann+Whitney, P < 0.05) but no difference was observed in
placental VEGF content (Mann-Whitney, P = 0.94). Considering the biologica
l properties of PLGF, this decrease may provide new insights into the mecha
nism(s) leading to the structural and functional anomalies described in tri
somy 21 placentae.