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Updated: Jun 8, 2025

The 4-vessel Sampling Approach to Integrative Studies of Human Placental Physiology In Vivo
Published on: August 2, 2017
Influence of maternal hyperglycemia on placental capillary distribution
Jusciele Brogin Moreli1,2, Natália Ferrari2, Ana Maria Cirino Ruocco1
1Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Botucatu, SP, Brazil.
Objective:
This study was conducted to investigate the distribution of placental villous vessels in pregnant women with different degrees of hyperglycemia.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was performed using placental samples from 30 pregnant women without diabetes (n=10), with gestational diabetes mellitus (n=10), and with previous diabetes (type 1 and type 2 diabetes; n=10). Maternal glycemic control was evaluated using the glycemic mean and glycated hemoglobin levels. Placental samples were obtained during elective cesarean sections and processed for villous vessel analysis using immunohistochemistry for Von Willebrand factor. Vessels within 10μm of the villus margin were classified as peripheral, and vessels at a distance greater than 10μm were classified as central. The number, area, and perimeter of all vessels were evaluated, and the relationship between vessel area and total area of placental villus was calculated.
Results:
Pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus and those with previous diabetes had higher glycated hemoglobin levels. The number of vessels was reduced in the villi of the previous Diabetes Group owing to peripheral reduction. Additionally, the area, perimeter, and percentage of peripheral blood were lower in the previous Diabetes Group than in the Non-Diabetic Group.
Conclusion:
Maternal glycemic levels can modify placental capillary distribution.
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