Zeynep Kamil Med J. 2019; 50(3): 126-130 | DOI: 10.16948/zktipb.529486

Relationship Between Fetal Sex and The Expression Levels of MicroRNA's in Healthy Pregnancies

Selin Demirer¹, Meryem Hocaoglu², Bilge Ozsait Selcuk¹, Abdulkadir Turgut³, Evrim Komurcu-Bayrak^1
1Department of Genetics, Aziz Sancar Research Institute of Experimental Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
²Istanbul Medeniyet University, Göztepe Eðt. and Research Hospital, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Istanbul, Turkey
³Istanbul Medeniyet University, Faculty of Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Istanbul, Turkey

INTRODUCTION: Differences in microRNA (miRNA) expression in maternal blood and placenta can help us further understand maternal and fetal biology and physiology. Fetal sex differences in miRNA expression are a result of both hormonal and genetic differences between the sexes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the expression levels of miRNA-21-3p, miRNA-155-5p, miRNA-518b and miR-16-5p and fetal sex.
METHODS: This study was carried out at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Istanbul Medeniyet University, Goztepe Research and Training Hospital. Twenty-one healthy pregnant women, who were having their pregnancy care through outpatient setting between November 2017 and March 2018, were included in the study. Maternal peripheral blood samples were obtained from the same healthy pregnant females at 29 weeks of gestation (Group 1) and at 37 weeks of gestation (Group 2). The maternal blood leucocyte levels of miRNAs (miRNA-21-3p, miRNA-155-5p, miRNA-518b and miR-16-5p were analyzed using SYBR-Green real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The expression levels of miRNAs between groups and fetal sexes were analyzed statistically.
RESULTS: There were no significant differences in clinical and laboratory characteristics between fetal sex in Group 1 and Group 2 (p> 0,05). There was a significant increase in the expression levels of miR-16-5p (p=0,01) in pregnant women with female offspring, compared to the pregnant with male offspring at 29 weeks of gestation. There were significant increases in the expression levels of miR-21-3p (p=0,02), miR-155-5p (p=0,08), miR-518b (p=0,02) in pregnant women with male offspring, compared to the pregnant with female offspring at 37 weeks of gestation.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: For the first time, in this study were shown to have differential expression levels of maternal blood leukocyte miRNAs between the fetal sexes at the beginning and end of the third trimester.

Keywords: pregnancy, fetus, miRNA, leukocyte, sex

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Saðlýklý Gebeliklerde Fetal Cinsiyet ile Mikro RNA'larýn Ýfade Düzeyleri Arasýndaki Ýliþki

Selin Demirer¹, Meryem Hocaoglu², Bilge Ozsait Selcuk¹, Abdulkadir Turgut³, Evrim Komurcu-Bayrak^1
1Genetik Anabilim Dalý, Aziz Sancar Deneysel Týp Araþtýrma Enstitüsü, Ýstanbul Üniversitesi, Ýstanbul, Türkiye
²Ýstanbul Medeniyet Üniversitesi, Göztepe Eðt. ve Araþtýrma Hastanesi, Kadýn Hastalýklarý ve Doðum Kliniði, Ýstanbul, Türkiye
³Ýstanbul Medeniyet Üniversitesi, Týp Fakültesi, Kadýn Hastalýklarý ve Doðum ABD, Ýstanbul, Türkiye

GÝRÝÞ ve AMAÇ: Saðlýklý gebelikte maternal kan ve plasentaya özgü miRNA’larýn araþtýrýlmasý, maternal/fetal biyolojik ve fizyolojik süreçlerin anlaþýlmasýna yardýmcý olmaktadýr. Fetüste diþi ve erkek cinsiyet arasýndaki hormonal ve genetik farklýlýklarýn sonucu olarak miRNA ifade düzeyleri deðiþmektedir. Bu çalýþmada amacýmýz, aday olarak belirlediðimiz miRNA-21-3p, miRNA-155-5p, miRNA-518b ve miR-16-5p ifade düzeylerinin saðlýklý gebelerde fetal cinsiyet ile iliþkisinin araþtýrýlmasýdýr.
YÖNTEM ve GEREÇLER: Çalýþma grubu, Kasým 2017 – Mart 2018 tarihlerinde Ýstanbul Medeniyet Üniversitesi Göztepe Eðitim ve Araþtýrma Hastanesi Kadýn Hastalýklarý ve Doðum Kliniðinde gebeliði takip edilen, maternal ve/veya fetal hastalýk saptanmayan saðlýklý 21 gebeden oluþmaktadýr. Maternal kan örnekleri ayný gebelerin 29. (Grup 1) ve 37. gebelik (Grup 2) haftalarýndaki takiplerinde alýnmýþtýr. Maternal kan lökositlerinden RNA izolasyonunun ardýndan miR-21-3p, miR-155-5p, miR-518b ve miR-16-5p anlatým düzeyleri, SYBR-Green gerçek zamanlý kantitatif PCR ile belirlenmiþtir. Gruplar ve fetal cinsiyetler arasýndaki miRNA ifade düzeyleri istatistiksel olarak karþýlaþtýrýlmýþtýr.
BULGULAR: Grup 1 ve Grup 2’de fetal cinsiyet ile klinik ve biyokimyasal parametreler arasýnda istatistiksel olarak anlamlý bir fark bulunmasa da (p>0,05) miRNA ifade düzeyleri iliþkili bulunmuþtur. Buna göre, kýz fetüs taþýyan gebelerde erkek fetüs taþýyanlara oranla 29. haftada miR-16-5p (p=0,01) ifade düzeyinin artmýþ olduðu belirlenmiþtir. Erkek fetüs taþýyan gebelerde ise kýz fetüs taþýyanlara oranla 37. haftada miR-21-3p (p=0,02), miR-155-5p (p=0,08) ve miR-518b (p=0,02) ifade düzeylerinin artmýþ olduðu saptanmýþtýr.
TARTIÞMA ve SONUÇ: Ýlk defa bu çalýþmada, saðlýklý gebelikte maternal kandaki lökositlerde üçüncü trimesterin baþýnda ve sonunda fetal cinsiyet ile deðiþen miRNA ifade düzeylerinin olduðu gösterilmiþtir.

Anahtar Kelimeler: gebelik, fetüs, miRNA, lökositler, cinsiyet

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