Twin pregnancy and partial hydatidiform mole following in vitro fertilization and embryos transfer: a novel case of placental mosaicism / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

Twin pregnancy with mosaic partial hydatidiform mole (PHM) and survival of two healthy fetuses following in vitro fertilization and embryos transfer (IVF-ET) is a rare situation and is considered a challenge for management. A 32-year-old Chinese woman conceived twin pregnancy following IVF-ET. At 22 weeks' gestation, an additional intrauterine echogenic mass with features of PHM were shown by successive ultrasound examinations. At 35 weeks' gestation, two live male infants and two placentas were delivered by caesarean section (CS). Histologic examination of the abnormal placenta confirmed mosaic PHM. Genetic study showed the abnormal placental mosaicism (expressed in molar-69XXY and normal vili-46XY), co-existing with a hypospadia new-born (46XY) in one amniotic sac. However, the other one was normal. Serial serum β-hCG levels showed a declining trend and serum β-human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) were undetectable at 6 months after delivery. The case demonstrated that it is possible to prolonged gestation by PHM under close surveillance during the entire pregnancy.

Proteomic analysis of the alteration of protein expression in the placenta of Down syndrome / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Down syndrome (DS) is the most common form of human aneuploidy, and there is no effective therapy for the chromosomal abnormalities. We aimed to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying DS and to provide clues to prenatal screening.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A series of proteomics-based experiments was conducted using 19 patients with DS fetuses and 17 normal pregnancies. The proteome of placenta was investigated as displayed by two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE), and comparisons were made between placentas that developed under DS and normal pregnancy conditions. Multivariate analysis of the resulting protein patterns revealed DS-specific protein expression. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight/time-of-flight (TOF/TOF) high-resolution tandem mass spectrometer (MS)-based identification was successful for 12 out of 17 selected protein spots.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among those, three proteins involved in the resist of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and neurogenesis were more abundant in the DS placenta (superoxide dismutase 1, endoplasmic reticulum protein 29 and heat shock protein beta-1), while peroxiredoxin-6 involved in cell defense mechanism against ROS was expressed at a higher level in the normal pregnancies.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Knowledge of the DS placenta proteome emphasizes the role of proteins involved in anti-oxidation during DS, and may form the basis of a potential approach to minimize the incidence of DS in the clinical setting.</p>