ABSTRACT
Apoptosis within the placenta is increased in pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia [PE].This study aimed at evaluating the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis in placenta of pregnant women with pre-eclampsia and correlate it with severity and pregnancy outcome. Apoptosis was assessed by measuring DNA fragmentation%,Bcl-2, p53 and caspase-9 in placental tissues from 25 pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia, and 25 placentas of normal pregnancy [NP]. DNA fragmentation, p53 and caspase-9, were significantly increased while, Bcl-2 was significantly decreased in the placenta of pre-eclampsia group compared to control. No significant difference between mild and severe pre-eclampsia subgroups regarding these parameters could be found. DNA fragmentation was negatively correlated with Bcl-2 in PE group. Moreover, DNA fragmentation was negatively correlated with maternal age in both PE and control groups. A significant positive correlation between placental DNA fragmentation and gestational age in the NP group was observed. A significant negative correlation between caspase9 activity, and fetal weight in PE group was found. It can be concluded that Hypoxia and ischemia induced by pre-eclampsia, up regulate p53 and reduce Bcl-2 expression with activation of caspase-9 and increasing DNA fragmentation in placental tissue. These results implicate the mitochondrial pathway in enhancing apoptosis in preeclamptic placenta and affecting fetal outcome but not the severity