Placental BDNF/TrkB Signaling System is Modulated by Fetal Growth Disturbances in Rat and Human

Quantitative RT-PCR of BDNF (A, C) and TrkB (B, D) mRNA levels in human placentas. C: control (n = 11 in A and B; n = 5 in C and D); IUGR: pregnancies with fetal growth restriction (n = 4 in A and B); C + M: pregnancies with fetal overgrowth (n = 5); D: pregnancies with maternal type 1 diabetes (n = 5); D + M: pregnancies with maternal type 1 diabetes and fetal overgrowth (n = 5). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 IUGR group versus C group (in A and B). Maternal and newborn’s parameters are reported in Table 1.

Photomicrograph of a coronal section showing specific in situ hybridization signal (for anti-sense probes) for BDNF mRNA (A) and TrkB mRNA (B) in a placenta of E21 control rat. Labeling is visible in black and indicated by large black arrows. No signal was detected using sense probes (data not shown). Lab: labyrinth; BZ: basal zone; Dec: decidua; Fv: fetal vessels. Magnification bar = 3 mm.

Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of BDNF mRNA (A) and BDNF protein levels (B) in control (white bars) and FR50 (dark bars) E21 rat placentas (n = 6 animals per group). *P < 0.05 FR50 versus C group.

A. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of mRNA level (A, C) and Western blot analysis of protein level (B, D) of the two TrkB isoforms (TrkB-FL and TrkB-T1) in E21 rat placentas. (n = 6 animals per group). *P < 0.05 FR50 versus C group.