Differential regional fatty acid distribution in normotensive and preeclampsia placenta Alka Rani a , Preeti Chavan-Gautam a, ⁎, Savita Mehendale b , Girija Wagh b , Sadhana Joshi a a Department of Nutritional Medicine, Interactive Research School for Health Affairs, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Pune, India b Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Bharati Medical College and Hospital, Pune, India abstract article info Article history: Received 10 April 2015 Received in revised form 11 June 2015 Accepted 16 June 2015 Available online 20 June 2015 Keywords: Preeclampsia Regional placenta Birth weight Blood pressure Polyunsaturated fatty acids Background: Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) are biologically active fatty acids which regulate placental angiogenesis, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Abnormalities in these aspects have been associated with preeclampsia (PE). Further, placenta has a heterogeneous structure with differential vascularization across different regions. We therefore hypothesize that the distribution of fatty acids in various regions of the placenta is altered in PE leading to poor fetal outcome. Methods: In this cross-sectional study we recruited 69 normotensive control (NC) and 44 women with PE. PE women were further classified as those delivered preterm (PTPE, n = 24) and at term (TPE, n = 20). Fatty acid levels were analyzed from placental samples from four different regions (CF—central fetal, PF—peripheral fetal, CM—central maternal and PM—peripheral maternal). Results: In the NC placenta, AA levels were lower (p b 0.05) in CM as compared with CF region. However, such differences were not seen in the TPE and PTPE. In contrast, the DHA levels varied between regions only in the PTPE placenta. Between groups, DHA levels were lower (p b 0.05 for both) in the CM and CF regions of the PTPE as compared with NC. The levels of DHA in TPE placenta were similar to NC. AA levels were lower (p b 0.05 for both) in CF region of TPE and PF region of PTPE placenta than NC. Conclusions: There is differential pattern of LCPUFA distribution across various regions of the NC, TPE and PTPE placenta. This may have implications for placental growth and development as well as transfer of LCPUFA to the fetus. © 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). 1. Introduction Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy induced hypertensive disorder which manifests after 20 weeks of gestation and till date its etiology is not well understood [1]. A number of placental abnormalities have been associated with PE pregnancies, such as insufficient spiral artery remodeling, shallow invasion, and reduced villous number, diameter and surface area. Placental function gets affected by these abnormalities, and ultimately deprives the developing fetus of the nutrients required for optimal growth [2,3]. Nutrients like fatty acids are not only required by the developing fetus but also metabolized by the placenta for its growth and development [4]. Fatty acids especially long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) are biologically active fatty acids which have been found to be associated with a number of developmental and functional aspects of the placenta. LCPUFAs are required by the placenta for membrane synthesis and to maintain fluidity for intercellular signaling [5]. Further, LCPUFAs act as ligands for transcription factors which regulate genes in- volved in trophoblast proliferation and differentiation [6]. Our earlier studies on women with PE report altered placental LCPUFA levels, dis- turbed angiogenesis and fatty acid transport in the maternal region of the placenta [7,8]. It is well known that the morphological heterogene- ity of the placenta comprises of both fetal and maternal tissues [9–11]. Differences in vascularisation across the placenta resulting in differ- ences of oxygen availability are also reported within the placenta [12, 13]. Several studies have reported gradients in protein levels, gene ex- pression and enzyme activities across the normal placenta [14–18]. Therefore, there could be functional specialization of different regions of the placenta which requires extensive research. PE has also been associated with increased oxidative stress and in- flammation originating from the placenta and affecting both mother and the fetus [19,20]. LCPUFA can form active metabolites like eicosa- noids, resolvins and protectins which regulates inflammation and it can also reduce oxidative damage in the trophoblast cells [21]. In the presence of reactive oxygen species, LCPUFA get per-oxidized into malondialdehyde (MDA) which is an oxidative stress marker [22]. Recently we have shown increased levels of MDA and decreased levels of catalase an antioxidant enzyme in a region specific manner in the BBA Clinical 4 (2015) 21–26 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Dept. of Nutritional Medicine, Interactive Research School for Health Affairs, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Pune 411043, MH, India. E-mail address: chavanpriti@gmail.com (P. Chavan-Gautam). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbacli.2015.06.004 2214-6474/© 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect BBA Clinical journal homepage: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/bba-clinical/