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Updated: Aug 22, 2025

The 4-vessel Sampling Approach to Integrative Studies of Human Placental Physiology In Vivo
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Increasing maternal age predicts placental protein expression critical for fetal serotonin metabolism: Potential

Robert D Levitan1, Maria Sqapi2, Martin Post3

  • 1Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Placenta
|November 7, 2022
PubMed

High fetal exposure to serotonin and increasing maternal age both contribute to the risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. While identifying covariates for a study of placental protein expression, we found a significant negative correlation between maternal age and the expression of monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), and a significant positive correlation between maternal age and the expression of the serotonin transporter SERT. MAOA and SERT play key roles in placental serotonin metabolism relevant to fetal neurodevelopment. These preliminary findings suggest that the effect of increasing maternal age on neurodevelopmental risk may be mediated in part by changes in placental protein expression relevant to fetal serotonin metabolism.

Keywords:
Fetal neurodevelopmentMaternal ageNeuro-developmental disordersSerotonin metabolism

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