Plasma levels of increased miR-195-5p correlates with the sFLT-1 levels in preeclampsia

• Published in: Hypertension in pregnancy Vol. 35; no. 2; pp. 150 - 158
• Main Authors: Sandrim, Valeria Cristina, Eleuterio, Nibia, Pilan, Eliane, Tanus-Santos, Jose Eduardo, Fernandes, Karla, Cavalli, Ricardo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 02.04.2016
• Subjects: Adult; Circulating microRNA; Female; Humans; microRNA; MicroRNAs - blood; miR-195; PCR-array; Pre-Eclampsia - blood; preeclampsia; Pregnancy; sFLT-1; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 - blood; Young Adult; microRNA; miR-195; preeclampsia; sFLT-1; Circulating microRNA; PCR-array
• ISSN: 1064-1955; 1525-6065; 1525-6065
• DOI: 10.3109/10641955.2015.1122034

Although the role of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFLT-1) in preeclampsia is well-established, the mechanism related to its synthesis remains poorly understood. We evaluated the association among the circulating microRNAs (miRs) and sFLT-1 levels in preeclampsia pregnant women. For this purpose, we measured the plasma sFLT-1 levels in 24 preeclampsia women and selected from these, three subjects with the lowest and three with the highest levels of sFLT-1 in order to screen for potential miRs associated with plasmatic sFLT-1 concentrations using a polymerase chain reaction-array (PCR-array) methodology. From screening results, we found three statistically different expressed miRs with fold change (FC-high/low levels) ≥3.0: miR-195-5p (FC = 5.2 increase in group with high sFLT-1 levels), miR-16-5p (FC = 3.2; increase in group with high sFLT-1 levels), and miR-375 (FC = −3.0; decrease in group with high sFLT-1 levels) which were later validated in all samples (n = 24). To correlate these miRs and plasma sFLT-1 levels, we used two extremes of analysis. In one part, we compared 12 preeclampsia women with the lowest sFLT-1 levels (L-50% group) to 12 with the highest levels (50% H group); and in the second analysis, 6 preeclampsia women (L-25%) from the L group to 6 preeclampsia women from the H group (H-25%). Our results showed increased expression of miR-195-5p in the H group, considering both the analyses with 50%, FC = 2.1 and 25%, FC = 4.2. Regarding other miRs, lack of correlation was found in both analyses (50% and 25%). In conclusion, our data demonstrate an association of higher levels of sFLT-1 with increased expression of miR-195-5p in preeclampsia pregnant women.