Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences / Peking Union Medical College., 2021.
Objective To investigate the effect of Pravastatin on the pro-survival/anti-apoptotic pathway in placental tissue of Pre-eclampsia (PE) mice. Methods ICR mice with 8 days of gestation were randomly divided into: control group (Con) without any intervention; PE model group (PE) injected with adenovirus carrying sFlt-1 fragment (Adv-sFlt-1) via tail vein; Treatment group (PE+Pravastatin) was given Pravastatin (Pravastatin, 5 mg/(kg·d), since the 9th day of gestation. On the 19th day, heart blood and placenta were collected then serum sFlt-1 level was measured by ELISA method. Western blot was used to measure activating transcription factor-2 (ATF-2), extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK) 1/2, heat shock protein (HSP) 27, p38 MAPK, signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 and phosphorylation of p53 protein in the placental tissue. Results The serum sFlt-1 level of the PE model group was (95.73±8.44)ng/mL,which was significantly higher than that of the control group (55.32±5.66)ng/mL, and the phosphorylation level of ATF-2,p38, ERK, HSP27 and STAT3 protein in the placenta tissue was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05). After pravastatin treatment, the concentration of sFlt-1 decreased significantly, and the phosphorylation level of ATF-2, p38, ERK, HSP27 and STAT3 protein in the placenta tissue increased significantly(P<0.05). Conclusions The therapeutic effect of Pravastatin on PE is related to the pro-survival/anti-apoptotic pathway that activates the MAPK pathway.