BioProject

Smoking in pregnancy increases a woman's risk of preterm delivery resulting in serious health problems during the newborn period, chronic lifelong disabilities (such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation and learning problems), and even death. Further, smoking women have placental problems such as placenta previa (a low-lying placenta that covers part or all of the opening of the uterus), placental abruption (in which the placenta peels away, partially or almost completely before delivery) often resulting in bleeding during delivery. Gene expression profiles in placentas from women exposed to tobacco smoke in pregnancy and from those without the exposure were determined by Illumina HumRef8 Beadchips with 20,589 gene probes. Comparative analysis, smokers versus non-smokers, revealed differential expression of 241 genes at p<0.05. In smokers we identified deregulated genes that represent general biomarkers of exposure as well as candidate genes likely involved in placental abnormalities found in smoking women. Functional annotation determined deregulated processes that were mainly related to development, metabolism, ion transport, and adhesion. Overall design: The study comprised 76 women who gave birth to a baby at the Children Hospital of Motol in Prague. All participants provided written informed consent and filled in the questionnaire including information about their smoking history in pregnancy, life style, pregnancy history, delivery course and newborn characteristics. To study effect of tobacco smoke on placental transcriptome, we performed gene expression profiling in placentas from women exposed to tobacco smoke in pregnancy (N=12) and from those without the exposure (N=64).