A study on placental expression of neuronal markers in intrauterine growth restriction

Introduction and Aim: The restriction of intrauterine growth (IUGR) has a 20% recurrence rate and is one of the leading causes of postnatal illness and death. The diagnosis of intrauterine retardation refers to the infant's increased risk of neurological issues over an extended period, neonatal morbidity, and mortality, and in utero death. Materials and Methods: One hundred placenta samples were collected and divided into cases and controls. Clearance from the ethics committee was taken from the institute prior to the commencement of this study. Exclusion criteria include the patients with multiple pregnancies, unknown gestational age, gestational diabetes, and HIV. The inclusion criteria are the singleton pregnancy, normal and cesarean section, maternal age between 18-35 years and GA between 34 – 41 weeks. Standard immunohistochemistry protocols were followed for the study and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neuron specific enolase (NSE) markers were used as neuronal markers. Results: Strong immunoreactivity of glial fibrillary acidic protein and neuron specific enolase was observed in fetal growth restriction placenta indicating perinatal brain damage of neonate. Conclusion: In our study we observed strong positive immunoreactivity of GFAP and NSE in IUGR only. This study suggests that these markers are used to predict brain damage in IUGR neonates.