Avaliação dos níveis de DNA nuclear e mitocondrial circulantes em mulheres com pré-eclâmpsia: potencial biomarcador de uso clínico

Abstract

Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, responsible for approximately 4 million diagnoses per year, with its etiological mechanisms still not fully understood. Mitochondrial DNA has been used as an important molecular marker in the screening of several diseases, characterizing the presence of oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. This study aims to quantify mitochondrial DNA, by real time PCR, in extracelular vesicles extracted from plasma of women with preeclampsia. The sample consisted of 29 participants distributed according to their diagnosis into: control (n=13), early-onset preeclampsia (n=4), late-onset preeclampsia (n=7), and eclampsia (n=5) groups. The results showed an increase in the amount of nuclear DNA (p=0.0008) and decrease in mitochondrial DNA in the early preeclampsia group (p=0.03). In addition, a correlation of mitochondrial DNA levels with the middle cerebral artery pulsatility index (p=0.01) was detected. These findings reinforce the relevance of future study and research on the mitochondrial DNA dynamics in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia.