Definition and Quantification of Three-Dimensional Imaging Targets to Phenotype Pre-Eclampsia Subtypes: An...

Area of Science:

• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Pathology
• Biomedical Imaging

Background:

• Pre-eclampsia is a severe pregnancy complication with limited diagnostic and therapeutic options.
• Understanding placental structural abnormalities is crucial for improved pre-eclampsia phenotyping.
• Current knowledge on pre-eclampsia aetiology and phenotypes remains controversial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore three-dimensional (3D) placental morphology phenotyping using multiphoton microscopy (MPM).
• To identify and quantify structural placental abnormalities associated with pre-eclampsia.
• To establish a novel approach for early pre-eclampsia diagnosis and understanding.

Main Methods:

• Healthy and pre-eclamptic placental tissues were imaged using multiphoton microscopy (MPM).
• Inherent signals (collagen, cytoplasm) and fluorescent staining (nuclei, blood vessels) enabled subcellular resolution imaging.
• Image analysis utilized open-source and commercial software (FIJI, VMTK, Stardist, MATLAB, DBSCAN) to quantify features like trophoblast organization, villous tree structure, syncytial knots, fibrosis, and vascular networks.

Main Results:

• Preliminary data revealed increased syncytial knot density and elongated shapes in pre-eclamptic placentas.
• Higher occurrence of paddle-like villous sprouts and abnormal villous volume-to-surface ratio were observed.
• Decreased vascular density was noted in pre-eclampsia compared to control placentas.

Conclusions:

• Quantifying 3D microscopic placental images offers a promising method for identifying morphological features.
• This approach has the potential to significantly improve pre-eclampsia phenotyping and early detection.
• Further research can refine this technique for clinical application in pregnancy care.