LAUSR

BACKGROUNDS AND OBJECTIVES Preeclampsia (PE) is one of the leading causes of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Preeclampsia is associated with aberrant expression of several MicroRNAs which function as gene regulators. The present study aims to determine the expression of MicroRNA-210 and MicroRNA-155 in Preeclampsia, and to detect the association of MicroRNA-210 and MicroRNA-155 levels with the severity of Preeclampsia. METHODS The study was carried out on thirty PE pregnant women as the Preeclampsia group compared to twenty healthy pregnant women who served as the control group. The patients were chosen at labor wards from Ain Shams Maternity Hospital during the period from June to December 2016. Preeclampsia group was then subdivided into mild Preeclampsia and severe Preeclampsia subgroups according to the levels of arterial blood pressure with the presence of thrombocytopenia, impairment in liver function, progressive renal insufficiency, pulmonary edema and cerebral or visual disturbance. MicroRNA-210 and MicroRNA-155 were estimated by a quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results of this study showed that the levels of MicroRNA-210 and MicroRNA-155 detected in the Preeclampsia group are significantly higher than in the control group. Although MicroRNA-210 levels showed high significant increase in severe PE compared to mild PE cases, there were no significant differences in MicroRNA-155 levels between the two PE subgroups detected. CONCLUSIONS MicroRNA-210 may be the noncoding RNA at the molecular level in which the increase in its level accompanies the progression of PE; and is closely associated with the severity of Preeclampsia.