Characteristics of CD68+ and CD163+ expression in placenta of women with preeclampsia and obesity

Abstract

The aim: to study the peculiarities of CD68+ and CD163+ macrophage expression in the placentas of women with obesity who developed preeclampsia by applying immunohistochemical method. Materials and methods: The study included 20 placentas taken from women who delivered full-term live-birth babies. The women were divided into 4 groups of 5 individuals each: women with physiological body weight (1st group); women with class II obesity (2nd group); women with physiological body weight and preeclampsia (3rd group); women with class II obesity, who developed preeclampsia (4th group). Results: The analysis of the expression level of CD68+ and CD163+ decidual macrophages shows the predominance of CD68+ pro-inflammatory profile over CD163+ anti-inflammatory profile in women of all groups. Evaluation of CD68+ and CD163+ expression levels of Kashchenko-Hofbauer cells in the stroma of the terminal villi of the placenta shows that the expression level of CD68+ macrophages is significantly higher in women with obesity and preeclampsia than in the control, or in women with obesity or preeclampsia. There was a reverse tendency to the polarization shift in Kashchenko-Hoffbauer cells in the stroma of the terminal villi towards the predominance of CD163+ macrophages over CD68+ macrophages in all groups of women. Conclusions: The imbalance in anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory profile of placental macrophages with a predominance of the latter can lead to the development of preeclampsia.