Abstract:

Objective To investigate the relationship of methylation level and gene expression of gene promoter of guanine nucleotide binding protein (GNA12) and the preeclampsia. Methods A total of 50 patients with preeclampsia (preeclampsia group) and 50 normal pregnant women (control group) were selected. From each group, 50 placenta tissue samples and 25 peripheral blood samples were collected. The methylation-specific PCR and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR were adopted to analyze the methylation and mRNA expression of CpG island of gene promoter region of GNA12. Results The degree of methylation of locus 63 of GNA12 in placenta tissue and peripheral blood of the preeclampsia group were lower than those of the control group (P=0.003，P=0.004 3). The mRNA expression of the preeclampsia group was higher than that of the control group (P=0.013). The methylation rate of placenta tissues correlated with the methylation rate of peripheral blood (P<0.000 1). Conclusion The methylation of gene Promoter of GNA12 correlates with the incidence of preeclampsia. The incidence of preeclampsia may be predicted by detecting gene GNA12 in peripheral blood of pregnant women.

Key words: preeclampsia, epigenetics, guanine nucleotide binding protein, methylation