[The activity of enzymes of amino acid metabolism of the placenta in different terms of the physiological and complicated pregnancy.]

The activity of amino acid metabolism enzymes and the content of free amino acids in the placenta during physiological pregnancy and placental insufficiency (PI) were studied using spectrophotometric methods and ion-exchange chromatography. It was found that in PI placental activity of the studied enzymes: alanine-, cysteine-e, tyrosine-, glutamino- transferase, glutathione synthetase, glutamate dehydrogenase decreases at different periods of gestation. The opposite variations occur for aspartataminotranferase and glutaminase. Similar changes are detected for amino acids synthesized or used in the course of appropriate reactions: aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glutamine, alanine, cysteine, tyrosine, arginine. The correlation between enzyme activity and amino acid content was revealed. Different periods of pregnancy are characterized by varying degrees of change, especially expressed in the second trimester, characterized by the most intense growth and development of the fetus, and its increased needs for trophic material. The revealed changes obviously play a pathogenetic role in the formation and further development of PI.

[Influence of amino acid imbalance in maternal and fetal organisms on the development of placental insufficiency and the course of the neonatal period.]

The content of amino acids in maternal serum and umbilical cord blood during physiological pregnancy and placental insufficiency (PI) was estimated using ion-exchange chromatography. It was found that that the content of arginine, serine, glutamine, alanine, cysteine, methionine, tryptophan, leucine, phenylalanine and proline, which are involved in many metabolic processes necessary to maintain the normal functioning of the mother-placenta-fetus system, was decreases in maternal serum at PI. Opposite deviations have dicarboxylic amino acids, lysine, histidine, glycine, tyrosine and threonine, the number of which increases, strengthening the nitrogen imbalance. In the blood serum of the umbilical cord for most amino acids, was a similar direction of changes, but the degree of it is more pronounced. The opposite direction of changes is found for glycine, threonine, tyrosine, the content of which is reduced. The results of the study make it possible to broaden the understanding of the mechanisms of PI development and to offer informative tests for predicting the state of newborns.

[Impairments of placental amino acid metabolism in fetal growth restriction]. / Narushenie platsentarnogo obmena aminokislot pri zaderzhke rosta ploda.

The content of the amino acids in the placenta during physiological pregnancy and fetal growth restriction (FGR) has been investigated my means of the method of ion-exchange chromatography. It has been found that in FGR the placental amino acid pool is characterized by a decreased content of arginine, proline, alanine, serine, cysteine, methionine, tryptophan, leucine, threonine, tyrosine, phenylalanine, glutamine and an increased content of dicarboxylic amino acids, lysine, histidine and glycine. These changes are accompanied by altered activity of some enzymes of amino acid metabolism, and the degree of these changes correlates with the level of corresponding amino acids.

Proteomic Profiling of the Blood Serum for Prediction of Premature Delivery.

Mass-spectrometric profiling of the serum in women at weeks 16-17 of gestation was carried out in order to detect proteomic predictors of preterm delivery. Changes in the production of 25 proteins (down-regulation for 13 proteins and up-regulation for 12 proteins) were detected in the sera of women whose pregnancies eventuated in premature deliveries. Among them, proteins with various regulatory functions were distinguished: antioxidant enzymes, chaperons, cytoskeleton proteins, cell adhesion molecules, and proteins involved in angiogenesis, proteolysis, transcription, inflammation processes, binding and transportation of various ligands. These results indicated the formation of proteomic imbalance as early as during trimester II, this eventually leading to premature delivery. The detected serum proteins were suggested as markers for early prediction of premature delivery.

New approaches to molecular diagnostics of prenatal pathology.

Analysis of the spectrum of amniotic fluid proteins in physiological and abnormal pregnancy using proteomic analysis allowed detection of a number of difference proteins, that are absent or, alternatively, appear in gestosis. Among absent proteins, there were NADPH-dependent carbonyl reductase, epidermal fatty acid-binding protein, haptoglobin, calgranulins A and B. In contrast to proteomic spectrum of amniotic fluid in physiological pregnancy, 7 new proteins appear during gestosis, 3 of them were identified: C area of immunoglobulin K-chain, breast cancer metastasis suppressor-1, and protein-1 containing AIG2-like domain. Possible effects of revealed differences in proteomic spectrum on development of main disturbances during gestosis are discussed. Difference proteins detected in amniotic fluid may serve as gestosis markers.