Volume 6 • Issue 2 • 1000307 J Cytol Histol ISSN: 2157-7099 JCH, an open access journal Research Article Open Access Treesh and Khair J Cytol Histol 2015, 6:2 DOI: 10.4172/2157-7099.1000307 Research Article Open Access Histological Changes of the Human Placenta in Pregnancies Complicated with Diabetes Soad A. Treesh 1 * and Nadia S. Khair 2 1 Department of Histology and Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tripoli, Libya 2 Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufa University, Egypt *Corresponding author: Soad A. Treesh, Department of Histology and Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tripoli, Libya, Tel: 0021891 7596693; E-mail: sotaw11@yahoo.com Received December 17, 2014; Accepted January 23, 2015; Published January 25, 2015 Citation: Treesh SA, Khair NS (2015) Histological Changes of the Human Placenta in Pregnancies Complicated with Diabetes. J Cytol Histol 6: 307. doi: 10.4172/2157-7099.1000307 Copyright: © 2015 Treesh SA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Normal fetal growth and survival depends on proper development and function of the placenta. The diabetic pregnancy is characterized by numerous disturbances in fetal growth and development. This study was done to focus on the effects of gestational diabetes on the histology of the placenta to confrm the magnitude of damage caused by diabetes to human placenta. Twenty Placentas of full term pregnancy were collected from Alzawia hospital, Libya. We used histological, histochemical and CD34 imuno-histochemical stains in this study. In diabetic pregnancy, placental weight is higher in comparison to normal pregnancy. Chorionic villi showed increased number of fetal capillaries, stromal villous fbrosis, villous edema, thickness of basement membrane of syncytiotrophoblast, glycogen deposits and strong positive reaction for CD34 in the wall of blood vessels in stem villus. Keywords: Placenta; Diabetes; Histological; Histochemical; Imuno- histochemical Introduction Te placenta is a complex organ of short life-span which is responsible for the transfer of nutrients and waste products between the fetal and maternal circulations. Te metabolic and endocrine activities of the placenta are not clearly understood [1]. It is the most important and vital organ of the intrauterine life, it must integrate signals from the fetus and the mother in an efort to match fetal demand with maternal nutrient supply [2]. So, it actually plays a crucial role in fetal growth. Te main functional units of the placenta are the chorionic villi, within them; fetal blood is separated from maternal blood in the surrounding inter-villous space by vasculosyncytial membranes overlying dilated fetal capillaries [3]. Histologically, a term placenta shows large number of villi and syncytial knots. In these knots, syntiotrophoblast nuclei are aggregated together in clusters leaving zones of thin cytoplasm devoid of nuclei in between [4]. Te difusion barrier between maternal and fetal circulation comprises of fve layers trophoblast, trophoblasic basement membrane, and core of supporting tissue, capillary endothelial basement membrane and endothelium [5]. Diabetes mellitus is now a major health concern in our society, according to the centers for disease control and prevention, the crude incidence of diagnosed diabetes increased 124% from 3.3 per 1000 to 7.4 per 1000 [6]. Meanwhile other Studies suggest that, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) among women of childbearing age is increasing due to more sedentary life styles, changes in diet and adolescent obesity [7]. Diabetes mellitus in pregnant women may be categorize into clinical diabetes or pregestational diabetes (women previously diagnosed with type I or type II diabetes) and gestational diabetes (GDM) which is stated as any degree of glucose intolerance with commencement or frst recognition during pregnancy. Abnormal maternal glucose tolerance occurs in 3- 10% of pregnancies. Whatever, any type of diabetes mellitus during pregnancy produces variety of placental abnormalities [8]. Te nature and extent of these changes depend on a number of factors, such as glucose level during the critical periods in placental development [9]. Alterations in placental function due to uncontrolled diabetes result in disturbances in fetal growth and development, macrosomia, congenital malformations and intrauterine growth retardation [10]. Aim of the present work is to investigate histological diferences of the placenta in pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes compared to non-diabetic pregnancies and to increase our knowledge about the histological, histochemical and immunohistochemical changes in diabetic placenta, as very few studies have been done on histochemical changes in placenta of a diabetic mother (pregestational). Material and Methods Sample A total of twenty cases were studied, seven placentas from non- diabetic mothers and thirteen placentas from diabetic mothers.Te placentas of full term pregnancy were collected from Labor Room and Gynecology operation theatre of Alzawia hospital, Libya. Tissue preparation All placentas, including those from the control group were treated identically in a standardized manner. Immediately afer delivery, cords were clamped to ensure that placentas are not drained of blood. Two centimeter of tissue was taken from the center of each placenta and fxed in 10% formalin for one week. Te tissue was dehydrated and followed by embedding in parafn and 7 micron serial sections were generated with the help of rotator microtome. Te tissue sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Periodic -Acid Schif (PAS), Mallory’s trichrome, methyl green pyronin and Von Gieson stains [11]. CD34 immunohistochemical stain was also done. Journal of Cytology & Histology J o u r n a l o f C y t o l o g y & H i s t o l o g y ISSN: 2157-7099