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Deoxyribonuclease activity negative correlates with extracellular DNA in uncomplicated singleton pregnancies in the third trimester

  • Barbora Vlková , Ľubica Janovičová , Petra Pšenková , Lívia Melníková , Barbora Balažovjechová , Jozef Záhumenský and Peter Celec ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: March 26, 2021
Journal of Perinatal Medicine
From the journal Journal of Perinatal Medicine Volume 49 Issue 6

Abstract

Objectives

It is not clear, which factors affect extracellular DNA (ecDNA) concentrations in healthy women with singleton uncomplicated pregnancies, although deoxyribonucleases (DNases) are hypothesized to be responsible for the cleavage of plasma ecDNA. The aim of this study was to analyze potential determinants of total ecDNA including plasma DNase activity.

Methods

Plasma samples were collected from 48 healthy women with singleton uncomplicated pregnancies in the third trimester (gestation week 37). DNA was isolated and quantified using fluorometry and real time PCR. DNase activity was assessed using the single radial enzyme-diffusion method.

Results

Neither ecDNA, nor DNase activity were affected by maternal age or BMI. DNase activity negatively correlated with total plasma ecDNA (r=−0.40, p=0.007). Similar associations were found for ecDNA of nuclear and mitochondrial origin, but not with fetal DNA quantified using Y-targeted PCR in male fetus-bearing pregnancies.

Conclusions

The role of plasma ecDNA of fetal and maternal origin is studied in the pathogenesis of pregnancy-complications. The results indicate that plasma DNase activity could negatively regulate ecDNA concentrations and should, thus, be analyzed in preeclampsia, preterm birth and other ecDNA-related pregnancy complications.

Keywords: cell-free DNA; fragmentation; nuclease; physiology; placental DNA
Corresponding author: Assoc. Prof. Peter Celec, MD, Dipl Ing., Dr. Rer. Nat., DSc., MPH, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Molecular Biomedicine, Comenius University, Sasinkova 4, 811 08 Bratislava, Slovakia; Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Pathophysiology, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia; and Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia, E-mail:

Funding source: Vedecká Grantová Agentúra MŠVVaŠ SR a SAV

Award Identifier / Grant number: VEGA 1/0742/21

Funding source: Agentúra na Podporu Výskumu a Vývoja

Award Identifier / Grant number: APVV-16-0273

  1. Research funding: The authors are supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency (Grant APVV-16-0273) and by the Ministry of Education (Grant VEGA 1/0742/21).

  2. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.

  5. Ethical approval: The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava.

References

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Received: 2020-11-08
Accepted: 2021-02-19
Published Online: 2021-03-26
Published in Print: 2021-07-27

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Special Section: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Obstetrics
  3. Editorial
  4. COVID-19 in pregnancy: where are we now?
  5. Review
  6. Newborns at risk of Covid-19 ― lessons from the last year
  7. Opinion Paper
  8. Ethical challenges in management of critically ill pregnant patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  9. Corner of Academy
  10. Antenatal depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in pregnant women from routine health care contact in Greece
  11. Original Articles – Obstetrics
  12. Pregnant women’s psychological state and influence factors: anxiety, and depression during COVID-19 outbreak
  13. Anxiety and depression during pregnancy in the era of COVID-19
  14. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in perinatal women: a cross sectional survey
  15. Covid-19 and pregnancy: the experience of a tertiary maternity hospital
  16. Infant outcomes and maternal COVID-19 status at delivery
  17. Assessment of fetal Doppler parameters in pregnant women with COVID-19 infection: a prospective case-control study
  18. SARS-CoV-2 in pregnancy and possible transfer of immunity: assessment of peripartal maternal and neonatal antibody levels and a longitudinal follow-up
  19. Peripartal anti-SARS-CoV-2-IgA/IgG in asymptomatic pregnant women during regional SARS-CoV-2-outbreak
  20. SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic pregnant women in South Brazil: RT-PCR and serological detection
  21. Letter to the Editor
  22. COVID-19 vaccine: the gender disparity
  23. Regular Papers
  24. Original Articles – Obstetrics
  25. Mode of delivery of women with Swyer syndrome in a German case series
  26. Risk factors and outcomes of abnormal bleeding after external cephalic version
  27. Causal analysis of fetal death in high-risk pregnancies
  28. Original Article – Neonates
  29. Prediction of encephalopathy in perinatal asphyxia score: reaching the unreached
  30. Short Communication
  31. Deoxyribonuclease activity negative correlates with extracellular DNA in uncomplicated singleton pregnancies in the third trimester
  32. Online Only: Congress Abstracts
  33. World Congress of Perinatal Medicine
https://doi.org/10.1515/jpm-2020-0526
Keywords for this article
cell-free DNA; fragmentation; nuclease; physiology; placental DNA

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Special Section: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Obstetrics
  3. Editorial
  4. COVID-19 in pregnancy: where are we now?
  5. Review
  6. Newborns at risk of Covid-19 ― lessons from the last year
  7. Opinion Paper
  8. Ethical challenges in management of critically ill pregnant patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  9. Corner of Academy
  10. Antenatal depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in pregnant women from routine health care contact in Greece
  11. Original Articles – Obstetrics
  12. Pregnant women’s psychological state and influence factors: anxiety, and depression during COVID-19 outbreak
  13. Anxiety and depression during pregnancy in the era of COVID-19
  14. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in perinatal women: a cross sectional survey
  15. Covid-19 and pregnancy: the experience of a tertiary maternity hospital
  16. Infant outcomes and maternal COVID-19 status at delivery
  17. Assessment of fetal Doppler parameters in pregnant women with COVID-19 infection: a prospective case-control study
  18. SARS-CoV-2 in pregnancy and possible transfer of immunity: assessment of peripartal maternal and neonatal antibody levels and a longitudinal follow-up
  19. Peripartal anti-SARS-CoV-2-IgA/IgG in asymptomatic pregnant women during regional SARS-CoV-2-outbreak
  20. SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic pregnant women in South Brazil: RT-PCR and serological detection
  21. Letter to the Editor
  22. COVID-19 vaccine: the gender disparity
  23. Regular Papers
  24. Original Articles – Obstetrics
  25. Mode of delivery of women with Swyer syndrome in a German case series
  26. Risk factors and outcomes of abnormal bleeding after external cephalic version
  27. Causal analysis of fetal death in high-risk pregnancies
  28. Original Article – Neonates
  29. Prediction of encephalopathy in perinatal asphyxia score: reaching the unreached
  30. Short Communication
  31. Deoxyribonuclease activity negative correlates with extracellular DNA in uncomplicated singleton pregnancies in the third trimester
  32. Online Only: Congress Abstracts
  33. World Congress of Perinatal Medicine
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