What Is the Effect of Placental Hypoxia/ischemia on Macrophages?

Objectives Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is associated with a higher incidence rate of perinatal complications (e.g., preterm birth and preeclampsia) and divergent placental histone modifications, as found in our recent study. The current study aims to explore influence of placental hypoxia/ischemia on macrophages, and contribute to better understanding of both the pathological mechanisms of these perinatal complications and future approaches for prevention/treatment of these complications.

Materials and methods The transcriptome files (GSE15949 and GSE16099) of human peripheral blood monocyte-derived macrophages (hMDMs) were downloaded from GEO. After data normalization and batch-effect elimination via R packages limma and sva, the limma t-test was used to conduct differential expression analysis of macrophage M1/M2 markers between the normoxia and hypoxia groups, with FDR < 0.05 and |logFC| > 0.5 set as thresholds.

Results After severe hypoxia (< 0.5% O₂) for 18h, the expression of 16 out of 38 markers in hMDMs were found significantly altered. Detailed results are shown in Figure 1 ([Abb. 1]).

Abb. 1

Conclusion Hypoxia promotes the activation of M1 macrophage and upregulation of pro-inflammatory markers. This indicates the potential links between placental hypoxia/ischemia and M1-macrophage polarization, which may be a promising therapeutic target for perinatal complications associated with placental hypoxia/ischemia.

Publication History

Article published online:
11 October 2022