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Updated: May 16, 2026

The 4-vessel Sampling Approach to Integrative Studies of Human Placental Physiology In Vivo
Published on: August 2, 2017
Physiological changes in the pattern of placental gene expression early in the first trimester
Satoshi Miyagami1, Keiko Koide, Akihiko Sekizawa
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Objective:
To assess the physiological changes in the placental expression pattern of a panel of genes related to angiogenesis and oxidative stress during the early part of the first trimester of pregnancy.
Methods And Results:
The expression of a selected panel of genes was quantified by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in samples of villous trophoblasts obtained from women between 6 and 11 weeks of gestation undergoing elective artificial abortion. We found that the levels of messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of placental growth factor (PlGF), heme oxygenase 1(HO-1), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) increased significantly with gestational age (r = .37, P = .001; r = .24, P =.04; and r = .52, P < .001, respectively). Conversely, the mRNA expression level of fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (FLT-1) decreased significantly (r = -.30, P = .009).
Conclusion:
During the early part of the first trimester of pregnancy, the placental gene expression levels of PlGF, HO-1, and SOD increase with gestational age, whereas the expression of FLT-1 decreases. The alteration in this pattern of gene expression in early pregnancy may therefore play an important role in placenta-related disorders such as preeclampsia.
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