CD146 expression in early and late onset pre-eclampsia : is there a difference?

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the difference in expression of CD146 immunohistochemical staining on intermediate trophoblast in early and late onset pre-eclampsia placentas as well as comparing this expression to gestational age matched control placentas. Study Design: Retrospective case series of 100 placentas: 25 early onset and 25 late onset pre-eclampsia placentas as well as 25 early and 25 late gestational age matched control placentas. Placentas were obtained from patients delivering in Tygerberg Hospital. Methods: Placentas were routinely fixed and processed. 2 sections of one preselected block from each case was cut and stained with CD146 and MNF116 immunohistochemical stain. The expression of the staining would be performed by means of analytical and image analysing software. Results: The study failed to demonstrate differences in CD146 expression by the intermediate trophoblast in the pre-eclampsia and control placentas. The analytical approach was deemed to be subjective and the image analysing software had too much background staining and inaccurate identification of the intermediate trophoblast in order to produce reproducible consistent results. Conclusion: Dual staining, using immunofluorescent staining of CD146 and MNF116 on smaller biopsies of the decidua are thought to be able to produce much better material for image analyses software.