TY  - JOUR
A1  - Chen, You-Peng
A1  - Xiao, Xiao-Min
A1  - Li, Jian
A1  - Reichetzeder, Christoph
A1  - Wang, Zi-Neng
A1  - Hocher, Berthold
T1  - Paternal body mass index (BMI) is associated with offspring intrauterine growth in a gender dependent manner
JF  - PLoS one
N2  - Background: Environmental alternations leading to fetal programming of cardiovascular diseases in later life have been attributed to maternal factors. However, animal studies showed that paternal obesity may program cardio-metabolic diseases in the offspring. In the current study we tested the hypothesis that paternal BMI may be associated with fetal growth.
 Methods and Results: We analyzed the relationship between paternal body mass index (BMI) and birth weight, ultrasound parameters describing the newborn's body shape as well as parameters describing the newborns endocrine system such as cortisol, aldosterone, renin activity and fetal glycated serum protein in a birth cohort of 899 father/mother/child triplets. Since fetal programming is an offspring sex specific process, male and female offspring were analyzed separately. Multivariable regression analyses considering maternal BMI, paternal and maternal age, hypertension during pregnancy, maternal total glycated serum protein, parity and either gestational age (for birth weight) or time of ultrasound investigation (for ultrasound parameters) as confounding showed that paternal BMI is associated with growth of the male but not female offspring. Paternal BMI correlated with birth parameters of male offspring only: birth weight; biparietal diameter, head circumference; abdominal diameter, abdominal circumference; and pectoral diameter. Cortisol was likewise significantly correlated with paternal BMI in male newborns only.
 Conclusions: Paternal BMI affects growth of the male but not female offspring. Paternal BMI may thus represent a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases of male offspring in later life. It remains to be demonstrated whether this is linked to an offspring sex specific paternal programming of cortisol secretion.
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0036329
SN  - 1932-6203
VL  - 7
IS  - 5
PB  - PLoS
CY  - San Fransisco
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Zirafi, Onofrio
A1  - Kim, Kyeong-Ae
A1  - Ständker, Ludger
A1  - Mohr, Katharina B.
A1  - Sauter, Daniel
A1  - Heigele, Anke
A1  - Kluge, Silvia F.
A1  - Wiercinska, Eliza
A1  - Chudziak, Doreen
A1  - Richter, Rudolf
A1  - Möpps, Barbara
A1  - Gierschik, Peter
A1  - Vas, Virag
A1  - Geiger, Hartmut
A1  - Lamla, Markus
A1  - Weil, Tanja
A1  - Burster, Timo
A1  - Zgraja, Andreas
A1  - Daubeuf, Francois
A1  - Frossard, Nelly
A1  - Hachet-Haas, Muriel
A1  - Heunisch, Fabian
A1  - Reichetzeder, Christoph
A1  - Galzi, Jean-Luc
A1  - Perez-Castells, Javier
A1  - Canales-Mayordomo, Angeles
A1  - Jimenez-Barbero, Jesus
A1  - Gimenez-Gallego, Guillermo
A1  - Schneider, Marion
A1  - Shorter, James
A1  - Telenti, Amalio
A1  - Hocher, Berthold
A1  - Forssmann, Wolf-Georg
A1  - Bonig, Halvard
A1  - Kirchhoff, Frank
A1  - Münch, Jan
T1  - Discovery and Characterization of an Endogenous CXCR4 Antagonist
JF  - Cell reports
N2  - CXCL12-CXCR4 signaling controls multiple physiological processes and its dysregulation is associated with cancers and inflammatory diseases. To discover as-yet-unknown endogenous ligands of CXCR4, we screened a blood-derived peptide library for inhibitors of CXCR4-tropic HIV-1 strains. This approach identified a 16 amino acid fragment of serum albumin as an effective and highly specific CXCR4 antagonist. The endogenous peptide, termed EPI-X4, is evolutionarily conserved and generated from the highly abundant albumin precursor by pH-regulated proteases. EPI-X4 forms an unusual lasso-like structure and antagonizes CXCL12-induced tumor cell migration, mobilizes stem cells, and suppresses inflammatory responses in mice. Furthermore, the peptide is abundant in the urine of patients with inflammatory kidney diseases and may serve as a biomarker. Our results identify EPI-X4 as a key regulator of CXCR4 signaling and introduce proteolysis of an abundant precursor protein as an alternative concept for chemokine receptor regulation.
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2015.03.061
SN  - 2211-1247
VL  - 11
IS  - 5
SP  - 737
EP  - 747
PB  - Cell Press
CY  - Cambridge
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hocher, Berthold
A1  - Armbruster, Franz Paul
A1  - Stöva, Stanka
A1  - Reichetzeder, Christoph
A1  - Groen, Hans Jürgen
A1  - Lieker, Ina
A1  - Khadzhynov, Dmytro
A1  - Slowinski, Torsten
A1  - Roth, Heinz Jürgen
T1  - Measuring Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) in patients with oxidative stress - do we need a fourth generation Parathyroid Hormone assay?
JF  - PLoS one
N2  - Oxidation of PTH at methionine residues results in loss of biological activity. PTH may be oxidized in patients with renal disease. The aim of this study was to develop an assay considering oxidation of PTH. Oxidized hPTH was analyzed by high resolution nano-liquid chromatography coupled to ESI-FTT tandem mass spectrometry (nanoLC-ESI-FT-MS/MS) directly and after proteolytic cleavage. The oxidized hPTH(1-84) sample shows TIC-peaks at 18-20 min and several mass peaks due to mass shifts caused by oxidations. No significant signal for oxidized hPTH(1-84) species after removal of oxidized PTH molecules by a specific column with monoclonal antibodies (MAB) raised against the oxidized hPTH was detectable. By using this column in samples from 18 patients on dialysis we could demonstrate that measured PTH concentrations were substantially lower when considering oxidized forms of PTH. The relationship between PTH concentrations determined directly and those concentrations measured after removal of the oxidized PTH forms varies substantially. In some patients only 7% of traditionally measured PTH was free of oxidation, whereas in other patients 34% of the traditionally measured PTH was real intact PTH. In conclusion, a huge but not constant proportion of PTH molecules are oxidized in patients requiring dialysis. Since oxidized PTH is biologically inactive, the currently used methods to detect PTH in daily clinical practice may not adequately reflect PTH-related bone and cardiovascular abnormalities in patients on dialysis.
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0040242
SN  - 1932-6203
VL  - 7
IS  - 7
PB  - PLoS
CY  - San Fransisco
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Alter, Markus L.
A1  - Kretschmer, Axel
A1  - Von Websky, Karoline
A1  - Tsuprykov, Oleg
A1  - Reichetzeder, Christoph
A1  - Simon, Alexandra
A1  - Stasch, Johannes-Peter
A1  - Hocher, Berthold
T1  - Early urinary and plasma biomarkers for experimental diabetic Nephropathy
JF  - Clinical laboratory : the peer reviewed journal for clinical laboratories and laboratories related to blood transfusion
N2  - Background: As the prevalence of diabetes rises, its complications such as diabetic nephropathy affect an increaseing number of patients. Consequently, the need for biomarkers in rodent models which reflect the stage and course of diabetic nephropathy is high. This article focuses on Heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP), osteopontin (OPN), nephrin, and Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in urine, and kidney injury molecule (KIM)-1, clusterin, and tissue inhibitior of metalloproteinases (TIMP) 1 in plasma in uni-nephrectomized rats with streptocotozin-induced type 1 diabetes mellitus, a common animal model to explore renal impairment in the setting of diabetes mellitus.
 Methods: 23 male Wistar rats were uni-nephrectomized and subsequently divided into two study groups. The diabetic group received streptozotocin (STZ) via tail-vein injection, the non-diabetic group received citrate buffer without STZ. Subsequently, blood glucose, body weight, and blood pressure were checked regularly. After 18 weeks, animals were placed in metabolic cages, blood and urine obtained and subsequently organs were harvested after sacrifice.
 Results: Blood glucose levels were highly increased in diabetic animals throughout the experiment, whereas systolic blood pressure did not differ between the study groups. At study end, classical biomarkers such as urinary albumin and protein and plasma cystatin c were only slightly but not significantly different between groups indicating a very early disease state. In contrast, urinary excretion of H-FABP, OPN, nephrin, and NGAL were highly increased in diabetic animals with a highly significant p-value (p<0.01 each) compared to non-diabetic animals. In plasma, differences were found for calbindin, KIM-1, clusterin, TIMP-1, and OPN. These findings were confirmed by means of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) analysis.
 Conclusions: In summary, our study revealed elevated levels of new plasma and urinary biomarkers (urinary osteopontin, urinary nephrin, urinary NGAL, urinary H-FABP, plasma KIM-1, plasma TIMP-1) in uni-nephrectomized diabetic rats, an established rat model of diabetic nephropathy. These biomarkers appeared even before the classical biomarkers of diabetic nephropathy such as albuminuria and urinary protein excretion. The new biomarkers might offer advantage to urinary albumin and plasma cystatin c with respect to early detection.
KW  - diabetic nephropathy
KW  - urinary biomarker
KW  - blood biomarker
KW  - heart-type fatty acid binding protein
KW  - osteopontin
KW  - nephrin
KW  - neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin
KW  - kidney injury molecule 1
KW  - clusterin
KW  - tissue inhibitior of metalloproteinases 1
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.7754/Clin.Lab.2011.111010
SN  - 1433-6510
VL  - 58
IS  - 7-8
SP  - 659
EP  - 671
PB  - Clin Lab Publ., Verl. Klinisches Labor
CY  - Heidelberg
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Chen, You-Peng
A1  - Li, Jian
A1  - Wang, Zi-Neng
A1  - Reichetzeder, Christoph
A1  - Xu, Hao
A1  - Gong, Jian
A1  - Chen, Guang-Ji
A1  - Pfab, Thiemo
A1  - Xiao, Xiao-Min
A1  - Hocher, Berthold
T1  - Renin angiotensin aldosterone system and glycemia in pregnancy
JF  - Clinical laboratory : the peer reviewed journal for clinical laboratories and laboratories related to blood transfusion
N2  - Background: The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) is involved in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in the general population. The RAAS is activated during pregnancy. However, it is unknown whether the RAAS contributes to glycemia in pregnant women.
 Methods: Plasma renin activity (PRA) and plasma aldosterone levels were quantified at delivery in 689 Chinese mothers. An oral glucose tolerance test in fasted women was performed in the second trimester of pregnancy. The diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and impaired glucose tolerance during pregnancy were made according to the guidelines of the Chinese Society of Obstetrics.
 Results: Plasma aldosterone was significantly higher in pregnant women with GDM as compared to those without impairment of glycemic control (normal pregnancies: 0.27 +/- 0.21 ng/mL, GDM: 0.36 +/- 0.30 ng/mL; p<0.05). Regression analyses revealed that PRA was negatively correlated with fasting blood glucose (FBG) (R-2 = 0.03, p = 0.007), whereas plasma aldosterone and aldosterone/PRA ratio were positively correlated with FBG (R-2 = 0.05, p<0.001 and R-2 = 0.03, p = 0.007, respectively). Multivariable regression analysis models considering relevant confounding factors confirmed these findings.
 Conclusions: This study demonstrated that fasting blood glucose in pregnant women is inversely correlated with the PRA, whereas plasma aldosterone showed a highly significant positive correlation with fasting blood glucose during pregnancy. Moreover, plasma aldosterone is significantly higher in pregnant women with GDM as compared to those women with normal glucose tolerance during pregnancy. Although causality cannot be proven in association studies, these data may indicate that the RAAS during pregnancy contributes to the pathogenesis of insulin resistance/new onset of diabetes during pregnancy.
KW  - Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system
KW  - pregnancy
KW  - fasting blood glucose
KW  - glycemic control
Y1  - 2012
SN  - 1433-6510
VL  - 58
IS  - 5-6
SP  - 527
EP  - 533
PB  - Clin Lab Publ., Verl. Klinisches Labor
CY  - Heidelberg
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Chen, You-Peng
A1  - Lu, Yong-Ping
A1  - Li, Jian
A1  - Liu, Zhi-Wei
A1  - Chen, Wen-Jing
A1  - Liang, Xu-Jing
A1  - Chen, Xin
A1  - Wen, Wang-Rong
A1  - Xiao, Xiao-Min
A1  - Reichetzeder, Christoph
A1  - Hocher, Berthold
T1  - Fetal and maternal angiotensin (1-7) are associated with preterm birth
JF  - Journal of hypertension
N2  - Background: Recent studies show that preterm birth is associated with hypertension in later life. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) during pregnancy influences fetal growth and development. In the current study, we investigated the impact of fetal as well as maternal angiotensin (1-7) [Ang (1-7)] and angiotensin II (Ang II) plasma concentrations on the risk of preterm birth.
 Methods: Three hundred and nine pregnant women were prospectively included into the study. The pregnant women were divided into two groups, for example, preterm birth of lower than 37 gestational weeks (n = 17) and full-term birth of 37 gestational weeks or more (n = 292). Maternal and neonatal plasma Ang (1-7) and Ang II concentrations were analyzed at birth from maternal venous blood and umbilical cord blood, respectively. Risk factors for premature birth were determined by multiple logistic regression analysis.
 Results: Fetal and maternal plasma Ang (1-7) concentrations in the preterm group were lower than those of the term group fetal Ang (1-7) preterm birth: 486.15 +/- 337.34 ng/l and fetal Ang (1-7) term birth: 833.84 +/- 698.12 ng/l and maternal Ang (1-7) preterm birth: 399.86 +/- 218.93 ng/l; maternal Ang (1-7) term birth: 710.34 +/- 598.22 ng/l. Multiple logistic regression analysis considering confounding factors revealed that preeclampsia (P < 0.001), premature rupture of membranes (P = 0.001), lower concentration of maternal Ang (1-7) (P = 0.013) and fetal plasma Ang (1-7) (P = 0.032) were independently associated with preterm birth. We could furthermore demonstrate that the maternal Ang (1-7)/Ang II ratio is independently associated with gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, factors causing preterm birth.
 Conclusions: Lower concentrations of maternal and fetal Ang (1-7) are independently associated with preterm birth - a risk factor of hypertension in later life.
KW  - angiotensin (1-7)
KW  - angiotensin II
KW  - cardiovascular disease
KW  - fetal programming
KW  - intrauterine fetal growth
KW  - pregnancy
KW  - preterm delivery
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000000251
SN  - 0263-6352
SN  - 1473-5598
VL  - 32
IS  - 9
SP  - 1833
EP  - 1841
PB  - Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
CY  - Philadelphia
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Li, Jian
A1  - Lu, Yong Ping
A1  - Reichetzeder, Christoph
A1  - Kalk, Philipp
A1  - Kleuser, Burkhard
A1  - Adamski, Jerzy
A1  - Hocher, Berthold
T1  - Maternal PCaaC38:6 is Associated With Preterm Birth - a Risk Factor for Early and Late Adverse Outcome of the Offspring
JF  - Journal of European public policy
N2  - Background/Aims: Preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW) significantly influence mortality and morbidity of the offspring in early life and also have long-term consequences in later life. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of preterm birth could provide new insights regarding putative preventive strategies. Metabolomics provides a powerful analytic tool to readout complex interactions between genetics, environment and health and may serve to identify relevant biomarkers. In this study, the association between 163 targeted maternal blood metabolites and gestational age was investigated in order to find candidate biomarkers for PTB. Methods: Five hundred twenty-three women were included into this observational study. Maternal blood was obtained before delivery. The concentration of 163 maternal serum metabolites was measured by flow injection tandem mass spectrometry. To find putative biomarkers for preterm birth, a three-step analysis was designed: bivariate correlation analysis followed by multivariable regression analysis and a comparison of mean values among gestational age groups. Results: Bivariate correlation analysis showed that 2 acylcarnitines (C16:2, C2), 1 amino acids (xLeu), 8 diacyl-PCs (PCaaC36:4, PCaaC38:4, PCaaC38:5, PCaaC38:6, PCaaC40:4, PCaaC40:5, PCaaC40:6, PCaaC42:4), and 1 Acylalkyl-PCs (PCaeC40:5) were inversely correlated with gestational age. Multivariable regression analysis confounded for PTB history, maternal body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy, systolic blood pressure at the third trimester, and maternal body weight at the third trimester, showed that the diacyl-PC PCaaC38:6 was the only metabolite inversely correlated with gestational age. Conclusions: Maternal blood concentrations of PCaaC38:6 are independently associated with gestational age. (C) 2016 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger AG, Basel
KW  - Metabolomics
KW  - PCaaC38:6
KW  - Biomarker
KW  - Preterm birth
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1159/000443428
SN  - 1420-4096
SN  - 1423-0143
VL  - 41
SP  - 250
EP  - 257
PB  - Karger
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Tsuprykov, Oleg
A1  - Ando, Ryotaro
A1  - Reichetzeder, Christoph
A1  - von Websky, Karoline
A1  - Antonenko, Viktoriia
A1  - Sharkovska, Yuliya
A1  - Chaykovska, Lyubov
A1  - Rahnenfuehrer, Jan
A1  - Hasan, Ahmed Abdallah Abdalrahman Mohamed
A1  - Tammen, Harald
A1  - Alter, Markus L.
A1  - Klein, Thomas
A1  - Ueda, Seiji
A1  - Yamagishi, Sho-ichi
A1  - Okuda, Seiya
A1  - Hocher, Berthold
T1  - The dipeptidyl peptidase inhibitor linagliptin and the angiotensin II receptor blocker telmisartan show renal benefit by different pathways in rats with 5/6 nephrectomy
JF  - Kidney international : official journal of the International Society of Nephrology
N2  - Dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)-4 inhibitors delay chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression in experimental diabetic nephropathy in a glucose-independent manner. Here we compared the effects of the DPP-4 inhibitor linagliptin versus telmisartan in preventing CKD progression in non-diabetic rats with 5/6 nephrectomy. Animals were allocated to 1 of 4 groups: sham operated plus placebo; 5/6 nephrectomy plus placebo; 5/6 nephrectomy plus linagliptin; and 5/6 nephrectomy plus telmisartan. Interstitial fibrosis was significantly decreased by 48% with linagliptin but a non-significant 24% with telmisartan versus placebo. The urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio was significantly decreased by 66% with linagliptin and 92% with telmisartan versus placebo. Blood pressure was significantly lowered by telmisartan, but it was not affected by linagliptin. As shown by mass spectrometry, the number of altered peptide signals for linagliptin in plasma was 552 and 320 in the kidney. For telmisartan, there were 108 peptide changes in plasma and 363 in the kidney versus placebo. Linagliptin up-regulated peptides derived from collagen type I, apolipoprotein C1, and heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins A2/B1, a potential downstream target of atrial natriuretic peptide, whereas telmisartan up-regulated angiotensin II. A second study was conducted to confirm these findings in 5/6 nephrectomy wild-type and genetically deficient DPP-4 rats treated with linagliptin or placebo. Linagliptin therapy in wild-type rats was as effective as DPP-4 genetic deficiency in terms of albuminuria reduction. Thus, linagliptin showed comparable efficacy to telmisartan in preventing CKD progression in non-diabetic rats with 5/6 nephrectomy. However, the underlying pathways seem to be different. Copyright (C) 2016, International Society of Nephrology. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
KW  - albuminuria
KW  - angiotensin receptor blockers
KW  - chronic kidney disease
KW  - DPP-4 inhibition
KW  - proteinuria
KW  - proteomic analysis
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2016.01.016
SN  - 0085-2538
SN  - 1523-1755
VL  - 89
SP  - 1049
EP  - 1061
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - New York
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Tsuprykov, Oleg
A1  - Chaykovska, Lyubov
A1  - Kretschmer, Axel
A1  - Stasch, Johannes-Peter
A1  - Pfab, Thiemo
A1  - Krause-Relle, Katharina
A1  - Reichetzeder, Christoph
A1  - Kalk, Philipp
A1  - Adamski, Jerzy
A1  - Hocher, Berthold
T1  - Endothelin-1 overexpression improves renal function in eNOS knockout mice
JF  - Cellular physiology and biochemistry : international journal of experimental cellular physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology
N2  - Background/Aims: To investigate the renal phenotype under conditions of an activated renal ET-1 system in the status of nitric oxide deficiency, we compared kidney function and morphology in wild-type, ET-1 transgenic (ET+/+), endothelial nitric oxide synthase knockout (eNOS-/-) and ET+/+eNOS-/- mice. Methods: We assessed blood pressure, parameters of renal morphology, plasma cystatin C, urinary protein excretion, expression of genes associated with glomerular filtration barrier and tissue remodeling, and plasma metabolites using metabolomics. Results: eNOS-/- and ET+/+eNOS-/- mice developed hypertension. Osteopontin, albumin and protein excretion were increased in eNOS-/- and restored in ET+/+eNOS-/- animals. All genetically modified mice developed renal interstitial fibrosis and glomerulosclerosis. Genes involved in tissue remodeling (serpinel, TIMP1, Collal, CCL2) were up-regulated in eNOS-/-, but not in ET+/+eNOS-/- mice. Plasma levels of free carnitine and acylcarnitines, amino acids, diacyl phosphatidylcholines, lysophosphatidylcholines and hexoses were descreased in eNOS-/- and were in the normal range in ET+/+eNOS-/- mice. Conclusion: eNOS-/- mice developed renal dysfunction, which was partially rescued by ET-1 overexpression in eNOS-/- mice. The metabolomics results suggest that ET-1 overexpression on top of eNOS knockout is associated with a functional recovery of mitochondria (rescue effect in 13-oxidation of fatty acids) and an increase in antioxidative properties (normalization of monounsaturated fatty acids levels). (C) 2015 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger AG, Basel
KW  - Chronic kidney disease
KW  - Endothelial nitric oxide synthase
KW  - Endothelin
KW  - Mice
KW  - Nitric oxide
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1159/000438516
SN  - 1015-8987
SN  - 1421-9778
VL  - 37
IS  - 4
SP  - 1474
EP  - 1490
PB  - Karger
CY  - Basel
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Putra, Sulistyo E. Dwi
A1  - Reichetzeder, Christoph
A1  - Meixner, Martin
A1  - Liere, Karsten
A1  - Slowinski, Torsten
A1  - Hocher, Berthold
T1  - DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene promoter in the placenta is associated with blood pressure regulation in human pregnancy
JF  - Journal of hypertension
N2  - Background: Blood pressure (BP) regulation during pregnancy is influenced by hormones of placental origin. It was shown that the glucocorticoid system is altered in hypertensive pregnancy disorders such as preeclampsia. Epigenetic mechanism might influence the activity of genes involved in placental hormone/hormone receptor synthesis/action during pregnancy. Method: In the current study, we analyzed the association of 50-C-phosphate-G-30 (CpG) site methylation of different glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) promoter regions with BP during pregnancy. The study was performed as a nested case-control study (n = 80) out of 1045 mother/ child pairs from the Berlin Birth Cohort. Placental DNA was extracted and bisulfite converted. Nested PCR products from six NR3C1 proximal promoter regions [glucocorticoid receptor gene promotor region B (GR-1B), C (GR-1C), D (GR-1D), E (GR-1E), F (GR-1F), and H (GR-1H)] were analyzed by next generation sequencing. Results: NR3C1 promoter regions GR-1D and GR-1E had a much higher degree of DNA methylation as compared to GR-1B, GR-1F or GR-1H when analyzing the entire study population. Comparison of placental NR3C1 CpG site methylation among hypotensive, normotensive and hypertensive mothers revealed several differently methylated CpG sites in the GR-1F promoter region only. Both hypertension and hypotension were associated with increased DNA methylation of GR-1F CpG sites. These associations were independent of confounding factors, such as family history of hypertension, smoking status before pregnancy and prepregnancy BMI. Assessment of placental glucocorticoid receptor expression by western blot showed that observed DNA methylation differences were not associated with altered levels of placental glucocorticoid receptor expression. However, correlation matrices of all NR3C1 proximal promoter regions demonstrated different correlation patterns of intraregional and interregional DNA methylation in the three BP groups, putatively indicating altered transcriptional control of glucocorticoid receptor isoforms. Conclusion: Our study provides evidence of an independent association between placental NR3C1 proximal promoter methylation and maternal BP. Furthermore, we observed different patterns of NR3C1 promoter methylation in normotensive, hypertensive and hypotensive pregnancy.
KW  - DNA methylation
KW  - epigenetics
KW  - glucocorticoid receptor
KW  - hypertension
KW  - hypotension
KW  - NR3C1 gene
KW  - placenta
KW  - pregnancy
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000001450
SN  - 0263-6352
SN  - 1473-5598
VL  - 35
SP  - 2276
EP  - 2286
PB  - Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
CY  - Philadelphia
ER  -